Consumption and poverty of older Chinese: 2011-2020

Based on five waves of CHARLS data from 2011 to 2020 with expenditure imputations, we estimate living standards and poverty rates among older Chinese and study factors associated with consumption and poverty. Our results indicate that in the 2010s, China's poverty profile among older people was no longer characterized by regional concentration, such as the case in the first decades following China's economic reforms. Rather, old-age poverty is dispersed and varies mainly by demographics. Rural-urban differences, low education, and older age are the main factors associated with poverty. In the past decade, people of these characteristics enjoyed sub-stantially more reductions in poverty, but they remain chief predictors. After controlling for demographics, consumption grew by 72.9 %, and the poverty rate declined by 59.2 % from 2011 to 2020, revealing remarkable progress. By interacting marital status with sex and urban/rural residence, we identify gaps in older people's economic support and find that the never-married urban people, widowed and divorced women, especially divorced rural women are the most at risk for poverty. Our research implies that future poverty alleviation policies should have more precise targeting.

Automated summary

Based on the analysis of China's CHARLS data on elderly households, poverty among older Chinese is no longer concentrated in specific regions but determined by factors such as age, education level, and rural-urban disparities. Despite a reduction in poverty rates over the past decade, rural areas, low education, and older age continue to be the main predictors of poverty.