After the iron rice bowl: extending the safety net in China

Abstract

This paper examines new forms of risk, vulnerability and exclusion arising in the process of China's transition, the (changing) needs of different groups, how (if at all) they are being met through socially provided forms of welfare, and the response of government to these changes.

It also explores the wide range of activities and interventions which form an incomplete and relatively uncoordinated web within which people attempt to meet their economic and social needs - including the coping strategies, resources, and informal support systems of individuals and households, and the activities of a growing range of intermediate, community and charitable organisations.