Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0083/00832.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 32KB | 487 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00832}
$Pretitle{260}
$Title{China
Chapter 5D.   Living Standards}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Thomas R. Gottschang}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{percent
per
chinese
rural
average
economy
kilograms
urban
economic
income}
$Date{1989}
$Log{}
Country:     China
Book:        China, A Country Study
Author:      Thomas R. Gottschang
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1989

Chapter 5D.   Living Standards

Progress since 1949

 Before 1949 the Chinese economy was characterized by widespread poverty,
extreme income inequalities, and endemic insecurity of livelihood. By means of
centralized economic planning, the People's Republic was able to redistribute
national income so as to provide the entire population with at least the minimal
necessities of life (except during the "three bad years" of 1959, 1960, and
1961) and to consistently allocate a relatively high proportion of national
income to productive investment. Equally important to the quality of life were
the results of mass public-health and sanitation campaigns, which rid the
country of most of the conditions that had bred epidemics and lingering disease
in the past. The most concrete evidence of improved living standards was that
average national life expectancy more than doubled, rising from around
thirty-two years in 1949 to sixty-nine years in 1985 (see Mortality and
Fertility; Health Care, ch. 2).

     In 1987 the standard of living in China was much lower than in the
industrialized countries, but nearly all Chinese people had adequate food,
clothing, and housing. In addition, there was a positive trend toward rapid
improvements in living conditions in the 1980s as a result of the economic
reforms, though improvements in the standard of living beyond the basic level
came slowly. Until the end of the 1970s, the fruits of economic growth were
largely negated by population increases, which prevented significant advances in
the per capita availability of food, clothing, and housing beyond levels
achieved in the 1950s (see Population, ch. 2). The second major change in the
standard of living came about as a result of the rapid expansion of productivity
and commerce generated by the reform measures of the 1980s. After thirty years
of austerity and marginal sufficiency, Chinese consumers suddenly were able to
buy more than enough to eat from a growing variety of food items. Stylish
clothing, modern furniture, and a wide array of electrical appliances also
became part of the normal expectations of ordinary Chinese families.

Food

     While food production rose substantially after 1949, population increases
were nearly as great until the 1980s. Production of grain, the source of about
75 percent of the calories in the Chinese diet, grew at an average rate of 2.7
percent a year between 1952 and 1979, while population growth averaged almost 2
percent a year. Total grain output per capita grew from 288 kilograms a year in
1952 to 319 kilograms in 1978, an increase of only 11 percent in 26 years. In
1984, however, a remarkably good harvest produced 396 kilograms of grain per
capita, an increase of 24 percent in only 6 years. In 1985 grain output fell
below the peak level of 1984, to 365 kilograms per person, and recovered only
partially in 1986 to 369 kilograms per capita (see table B; Crops, ch. 6).

     Other important food items that remained in short supply before the
economic reforms included edible oil, sugar, and aquatic products. Production of
oil-bearing crops increased at an average rate of about 2 percent a year from
1952 to 1979, and annual consumption of edible oil was less than 2 kilograms per
person in 1979. Between 1978 and 1985, output grew at over 16 percent a year,
and annual consumption increased to 5.1 kilograms per person. Sugar production
grew at an average annual rate of 4.5 percent after 1952, but in 1979
consumption per person still was only 3.5 kilograms per year. From 1979 to 1985,
sugar production grew by 10 percent a year, and the total amount of sugar
available per person rose to 5.6 kilograms in 1985. Output of aquatic products
rose at an average rate of only 2 percent a year between 1957 and 1978 and
declined slightly in 1979; between 1979 and 1985, however, output grew at an
average rate of 8.5 percent a year, and individual annual consumption rose from
3.2 kilograms to 4.9 kilograms.

     Pork, eggs, and vegetables were increasingly available before the 1980s
(see Animal Husbandry, ch. 6). Annual consumption of pork-the most commonly
eaten meat in China-grew from 5.9 kilograms per person in 1952 to 7.5 kilograms
per person in the mid-1970s. In 1979 a sharp increase in procurement prices for
pork brought about a surge in supply- to 9.6 kilograms per person. Beginning in
1980, availability increased steadily, reaching 14 kilograms of pork per capita
in 1985, an increase of 9 percent each year from 1978. Consumption of fresh eggs
followed a similar pattern, climbing from an average of just over one kilogram
per person in 1952 to almost two kilograms in 1978. The economic reforms
elicited rapid increases in the supply of eggs, as they had with pork, and by
1985 consumption had more than doubled, to 5 kilograms of eggs per person a
year, for an increase of over 14 percent a year.

 Vegetables were the major supplement to grain in the Chinese diet and were very
important nutritionally. In 1957 annual vegetable consumption per capita in
Chinese cities averaged 109 kilograms and by 1981 had grown to 152 kilograms.
Household survey data indicated that in 1985 vegetable consumption had leveled
off, at 148 kilograms per person per year in urban areas and 131 kilograms in
the countryside, as people used their higher incomes to increase their purchases
of more expensive foods, such as meat, fish, and edible oil.

 As of the late 1970s, famine and malnutrition were no longer major problems in
China, but the average diet lacked variety and provided little more than basic
nutritional requirements. Protein, in particular, was barely adequate for health
maintenance. By the mid-1980s the availability of food had improved
dramatically. Bustling street markets offered a good variety of fruits and
vegetables throughout the year, and per capita consumption of high-protein
foods-meat, poultry, eggs, and fish- -increased by 63 percent over the 1979
level, to nearly 27 kilograms a year in 1985.

Clothing

     Before the reform period, clothing purchases were restricted by rationing.
Cotton cloth consumption was limited to between four and six meters a year per
person in the 1970s. In the 1980s one of the most visible signs of the economic
"revolution" was the appearance in Chinese cities of large quantities of
relatively modern, varied, colorful, Western-style clothes, a sharp contrast to
the monotone image of blue and gray suits that typified Chinese dress in earlier
years. Cloth consumption increased from eight meters per person in 1978 to
almost twelve meters in 1985, and rationing was ended in the early 1980s.
Production of synthetic fibers more than tripled during this period; in 1985
synthetics constituted 40 percent of the cloth purchased (see Textiles, ch. 7).
Consumers also tripled their purchases of woolen fabrics in these years and
bought growing numbers of garments made of silk, leather, or down. In 1987
Chinese department stores and street markets carried clothing in a large variety
of styles, colors, quality, and prices. Many people displayed their new
affluence with relatively expensive and stylish clothes, while those with more
modest tastes or meager incomes still could adequately outfit themselves at very
low cost.

Consumer Goods

     As with food supplies and clothing, the availability of housewares went
through several stages. Simple, inexpensive household items, like thermoses,
cooking pans, and clocks were stocked in department stores and other retail
outlets all over China from the 1950s on. Relatively expensive consumer durables
became available more gradually. In the 196