At present, the Chinese society as a whole has a serious divergence of interests, with the high income group occupies a large proportion of social wealth.The total wealth of the 500 people on the 2006 hurun China rich list reached 1.1 trillion yuan, equivalent to 6% of China's GDP in 2005.According to the United Nations, the richest 10 percent of Chinese adults hold 41.4 percent of the country's wealth, but there are about 150 million to 210 million people living in poverty.According to world bank statistics, in the mid-1990s, the income of the highest income households in China was 8.6 times that of the lowest income households.The high income group occupies a large proportion in the total income, which not only occupies the share of the low income group, but also occupies the share of the middle income group.
The gap between the rich and the poor is a serious issue that not only China but also other countries have to face. And I think the gap between the rich and the poor is one of the most urgent problems that should be solved in the rapidly developing social environment.
I would like to make two points about the causes of the gap between the rich and the poor.
First, times have changed.The society has changed dramatically.Our country transitions from planned economy to market economy, the distributive system of the society produced fundamental change: from the past onefold system of distributive according to work turns into the pluralistic distributive system now, distributive according to work is no longer the general rule of economic society.In the past, people with good families, diplomas and skills often made a fortune as officials.Today, those with business acumen, capital, or skills or managerial talent are enjoying a bonanza. The reason is that economic and social selection criteria have changed significantly. Compared with traditional planned economy, market economy is more favor of risk spirit, market control ability, product innovation and marketization, management cost control and other capabilities. Different economic society, different standards of measurement, make the same person's order is also very different.
Second, education is a resource to which every citizen is entitled on equal terms.However, if the fairness of resource possession is destroyed, it will lead to: first, a large number of students with good potential and strong economic ability will concentrate on key schools and popular majors.The second is that a large number of teachers will flock to the key schools or developed cities that have absolute advantages in educational resources.The flow of talents will inevitably lead to the imbalance of economic development.In the end, the phenomenon of "the poorer the poor are, the richer the rich are" is formed, which exacerbates the gap between the rich and the poor.
As for the gap between the rich and the poor in society, I would like to make a few comments.First, achieve full employment as far as possible. Occupation means a relatively stable economic income for workers, which means they can carry out some necessary equal social activities.To achieve full employment, the government should vigorously promote the development of production and encourage entrepreneurship, and enterprises should shoulder their social responsibilities to promote full employment.Full employment is a necessary condition for a society to eliminate poverty and alleviate the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Second, establish a reasonable tax system.Through the establishment of income files, payment files and credit files of high-income groups, the effective restraint and supervision mechanism for high-income groups should be established, so as to avoid their tax evasion to the greatest extent. In China, the excessive income of some people can be adjusted through the collection of consumption tax on high-end consumer goods (i.e. luxury goods) and inheritance tax on the property inherited over a certain amount, thus promoting the alleviation of the gap between the rich and the poor.