China's wealth divide is increasing as the richest one percent of families possess one third of the nation's wealth while the poorest 25 percent only hold one percent, according to a recently-released well-being development report.
The report, based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), was drafted by the country's prestigious Peking University which sampled 14,960 families from 25 provinces and cities as a baseline survey, identified the soaring Gini Coefficient in China, an important indicator for wealth inequality, which stands at an alarming 0.45 or more.
In addition to income and wealth disparity, education opportunities and healthcare are also appallingly different for both the haves and have-nots.
The age-old inspirational proverb -- "You can go to college as long as you work hard" -- are losing its luster in light of the record-high educational inequality.
Hukou, or the household registration system, the educational background of one's parents, membership in the Communist Party of China (CPC) as well as one's birthplace count ever more in seeking educational resources than they did in the past 30 years, the report noted.
Medical security, which should have served as a counterbalance for the yawning income gap, turns out to be sensitive to wealth as high-income earners enjoy more subsidies than low-income earners, stated Li Jianxin, chief author of the report and a professor at Peking University.
The report also identified varied educational and job opportunities as well as income and health conditions between men and women as the latter tend to be inferior in the above indicators. The same goes for rural residents who suffer more from healthcare inequality.
Professor Li warned of the growing social instability and potential bottleneck in China's development which could result from the inequalities between different social structures, different social classes and regions.
