Spatiotemporal patterns in China's Minimal Living allowances: The urban-rural gap and regional differences revealed through a national poverty alleviation program

The Minimal Living Standard Allowance System (MLSAS), established by the Chinese central government in the late 1990s, was intended to provide basic needs for urban and rural low-income populations. Although the subsidy standards of MLSAS have increased rapidly over the years, its distributions in time and space were found imbalanced. Using the per capita subsidy income (PCSI) data of 338 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2016, this study quantified the spatiotemporal patterns of the urban-rural gap and regional differences of MLSAS throughout China and identified the major influential socioeconomic factors of the observed patterns. The results showed that the PCSI of China's low-income populations increased rapidly but with large variations between urban and rural residents and between geographic regions. The PCSI in rural areas was much lower than that in urban areas, whereas the Gini coefficient of PCSI in urban areas was lower than that in rural areas, indicating the allowance from MLSAS was more unequal among rural residents. Additionally, the higher PCSI was concentrated mainly in three urban agglomerations in eastern China. Most cities in central and western China lagged in terms of PCSI. Correlation analysis between PCSI and socioeconomic factors indicated that the income and GDP per capita were the most important influencing factors. With a better understanding of the overall situation of the urban-rural gap and regional differences in implementing MLSAS, the current study should help improve the subsistence subsidy policies in China.