Urban–rural disparity of child poverty in China: Spatio-temporal changes and influencing factors

Abstract

Eradicating child poverty and shrinking urban–rural disparity are the common goals of humanity. In contemporary China, significant differences exist in child poverty between urban and rural regions, despite the remarkable achievements that have been made in child poverty reduction. Using the national datasets of China Family Panel Studies, this study explored the spatio–temporal changes and influencing factors of urban–rural disparity in child poverty (URDCP) in China between 2010 and 2018 based on the Alkire–Foster approach, spatial autocorrelation analysis and Geodetector method. Results indicated that the URDCP has been shrinking since 2010 and that the urban–rural gap in child poverty increased from east to west due to the combined influence of urban–rural differences and regional poverty disparity. The urban–rural differences in child poverty were mainly reflected in the dimensions of nutrition and living standards. Generally, family conditions, mobility and medical resources were the main contributors of spatial variations in URDCP. The findings may provide useful insights into child poverty alleviation in developing countries.