Effects of Poverty Concentration: A Case of Migrant Workers’ Children in China

Bill Tsang, University of Hong Kong
Eric Fong, University of Toronto
Tony Tam, Chinese University of Hong Kong

We examined the consequences of poverty concentration on the social well being of children in China. Because most studies are based on data from developed countries, where institutional arrangements are well established and the flow of resources is clearly set, it is almost impossible to delineate and isolate the spatial poverty concentration effect from the influence of established institutional arrangements. The examination of the poverty concentration effect on migrant workers’ children in China provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effect of poverty concentration on children’s social well being, in our case their social ties, within a context of changing institutional structures and arrangements. For the last few decades, China has experienced institutional changes at all levels of society. At the same time, children of migrant workers with their families are segregated in poor areas. Our analysis is based on surveys of students in four schools in Shanghai and Beijing.