Grinding poverty defies China's boom

Lamanda(Michelle) Reid/Jan.18/3:50p.m./poverty and inequality
The article Grinding poverty defies China’s boom by Howard W. French was very interesting. Li Enlan 78, of Henan Province, China is just one of the many poor people in China. She has to pick herbs instead of modern medicines. This is a result of poverty in many villages such as Li Enlan’s. People in her village are too poor to enjoy things that are considered American norms such as heat, running water, and mobile phones. Even though China has moved more people out of poverty than any other country in the world, it still has more than 300 million poor people. Experts say that provinces such as Henan and other central areas of China are being excluded from the financial support of the booming coastal regions. Peasants were on paper given an abolition of agricultural taxes, cancellation of school tuitions, new pension and health care plans. Due to the fact that most peasants have only a glancing contact with the cash economy, tax exemption was mainly irrelevant. The abolished tuition fees weren’t any help, because other school fees were increased. Participation fees and deductible fees made it unfeasible to afford the pension and health plans. The central government is out of touch with the rural problems, and many of the rural government officials are corrupt. David Dollar, a World Bank official in Beijing, said that poverty is usually prevalent in homes that lack migrant laborers or able-bodied workers.
China is facing a major poverty epidemic. It is over populated and the land is unable sustain the population. It is sad to know that central China is suffering while coastal areas are prospering. It is also sad to know that local government officials are stealing money from its people. I agree with David Dollar, homes that occupy people who aren’t in the work force are suffering. This is a major problem currently in China that will not be easily solved or solved in the next couple of years. It will take time to help the poor in China.