Development of Minimum Livelihood Guarantee Programs in Urban China: An Empirical Analysis Based on 31 Regions Over 2003-2013

The Minimum Livelihood Guarantee (MLG) system in urban China is functioned as the last resort safety net for poor people and plays a substantial role in poverty reduction. This paper provides new empirical insights into the MLG development across 31 regions in urban China between 2003 and 2013. In addition to widely used indicators like benefit levels and number of benefit recipients, we construct two indicators of MLG replacement rates to measure the generosity of the benefits relative to income from work. The results show that the development of the urban MLG system in China has followed different tracks before and after 2008. Since 2008, the governments have made great efforts to increase the generosity of the MLG system while put more stringent conditions on MLG beneficiaries. Moreover, since 2008, the generosity levels of the MLG programmes began to converge across regions.