Educational & income disparities among ethnic minorities of China

Abstract

While disparities between Han and non-Han groups are well established in China, little is known about which ethnic minorities experience the greatest disparities or how these have changed over time. This study examines disparities in income and educational attainment across six of China’s largest ethnic minority populations and how they have changed over the past two decades. Analyses included 66,077 observations over ten waves (1989–2015) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) which also includes information on specific ethnic identification. We found substantial disparities between ethnic minorities in both their income and educational attainment, and these disparities either persisted or grew over time. These disparities also remained when controlling for rural residence. These results suggest that despite years of explicit government efforts to create equality among ethnic groups, such disparities persist and have in some cases grown.