The sources of rapid income growth are increasingly diversified, and the gap between urban and rural areas is narrowing.
There are still challenges in optimizing the income pattern of residents and "increasing income continuously"
It is more difficult for some groups to increase their income. Experts suggest promoting employment and entrepreneurship to increase their income and improving the income control system.
Ning Renjie, who works in a private company in the communications industry in Jinan, told reporters that five years ago, his salary deducted social security, individual tax and other expenses, and he got about 3,200 yuan a month, and now it has risen to more than 5,000 yuan. "The company will adjust its salary every one or two years, plus various welfare allowances, and its income will increase significantly compared with five years ago."
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of the national residents in 2016 was 23,821 yuan, with an average annual real increase of 7.4% since 2012. In the next four years, as long as the average annual real growth rate of national residents’ income is above 5.3%, the goal of doubling residents’ income by 2020 compared with 2010 can be achieved.
Recently, the Economic Information Daily reporter visited many places and learned that in recent years, the income of urban residents has maintained rapid growth, the income gap has been narrowing, and the sources have become increasingly diverse. However, the current sustained income increase of urban and rural residents is also facing new challenges, and it is more difficult for some groups to increase their income. Experts said that sustained economic growth is the basis for the continuous improvement of residents’ income. From the perspective of economic development, the driving force for residents’ income growth will not shrink. In the future, it is necessary to promote employment and entrepreneurship to increase income, deepen the reform of wage system in government agencies, enterprises and institutions, and establish and improve the income control system.
"Being in the countryside is better than going out to work"
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 12,363 yuan in 2016, with an average annual real growth rate of 8.0% since 2012. The average annual real growth rate of per capita disposable income of rural residents was 1.5 percentage points faster than that of urban residents. In 2016, the ratio of per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents was 2.72, down by 0.16 compared with 2012.
Li Wenjie, a native of Linyi, Shandong Province, who often works in plumbing projects in Beijing and Hebei, said that in recent years, wages have risen steadily. "The salary was 200 yuan/day five years ago, and now 250 yuan/day, the wages of coolies have also risen from 80 yuan to 150 yuan every day."
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in recent years, governments at all levels have continuously expanded the space for mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and the business environment of individual industrial and commercial households and small and micro enterprises has been further improved. The employment situation has progressed steadily, and the number of migrant workers and the wage level have continued to grow, which has boosted the wage income of urban and rural residents to grow rapidly.
While wage income continues to increase, the income gap between urban and rural residents continues to narrow.
Ling Jihe, the chairman of Jiangxi Green Energy Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., has transferred more than 20,000 mu of land, and implemented workshop management. Sixteen brigades manage farmland in pieces, and each brigade is in charge of eight couples. In 2016, the average annual income of each couple was 147,000 yuan, and the year-end bonus was also given at the end of the year. The highest one could get 200,000 yuan or 300,000 yuan. Previously, they could only earn 50,000 to 60,000 yuan a year when they went out to work.
Dong Yunjian, chairman of Baoyi Kiwifruit Planting Professional Cooperative in Yuanquan Town, Boshan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province, said that since 2010, he began to transfer land to grow kiwifruit, and in recent years, he introduced new varieties, benefiting from the development of modern agriculture, expanding the planting scale and greatly increasing the income. "It is no problem for one person to manage three acres of kiwifruit, and the net income per acre can reach 20,000 yuan, which is better than going out to work."
According to statistics from Shandong Provincial Bureau of Statistics, in 2016, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Shandong actually increased by 52.4% compared with 2011, with an average annual growth rate of 8.8%.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the bumper harvest of grain laid the foundation for the growth of rural residents’ agricultural income, and the prices of agricultural products such as rice, vegetables and fruits rose in stages in different periods, which made agriculture "not bright in the east and bright in the west" under the unfavorable price situation of agricultural products such as corn to avoid the decline of income. At the same time, since the second half of 2014, the pig price situation has been favorable, which has driven the net income of rural residents in animal husbandry out of the dilemma of reducing income.
In addition to the income gap between urban and rural areas, the income gap between different regions and groups is also narrowing. In 2016, the per capita income ratio of residents in the eastern and western regions was 1.67, that of residents in the central and western regions was 1.09, and that of residents in the northeast and western regions was 1.21. The relative income gap between east and west, central and west, and northeast and west decreased by 0.06, 0.02 and 0.08 respectively compared with 2012.
From 2013 to 2015, the income multiples of the top 20% households and the bottom 20% households in Zhejiang Province decreased from 6.51 times to 6.04 times, showing a gradual narrowing trend. Especially for low-income people, the income growth rate has increased from 18.1% to 20.9% in these three years.
In 2016, the average annual salary of employees in non-private units in cities and towns in Jiangxi Province ranked lower for a long time. Compared with 2012, the average annual salary of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery increased by 14.6%, the average annual growth of accommodation and catering industry was 11.8%, and the average annual growth of water conservancy, environment and public facilities management industry was 10.9%. The average annual growth rate of these three low-wage industries is higher than the provincial average.
Increase in net income of property
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita net transfer income of residents in 2016 was 4,259 yuan, an increase of 56.2% over 2012, and the proportion of per capita disposable income increased to 17.9%. The per capita net income of property was 1,889 yuan, an increase of 53.5% compared with 2012, and the proportion of per capita disposable income increased to 7.9%.
The 72-year-old Kang Caie is a native of Laoling Village, Moganshan Town, Deqing County, Zhejiang Province. She used to make a living by farming and doing odd jobs in the mountains, with an annual income of less than 20,000 yuan. In 2010, she rented the house to a private host, and charged 19,000 yuan a year. This year, it rose to 50,000 yuan. It was charged for 24 years at a time, and the rent was 1.2 million yuan, which was invested in her son’s Shiyi tea farm (more than 300 acres of tea garden).
"The B&B economy has brought tangible income to our mountain people." Kang Caie said with a smile that she worked in a homestay modified by her home, cooking, cleaning, doing easy work, getting to know tourists from all over the world, and increasing her annual income by more than 30 thousand yuan, and her life was very comfortable.
The income structure of urban residents in Zhejiang is characterized by diversification. In 2000, the per capita wage income of urban residents accounted for 69.5% of the total household income. In 2016, the proportion of wage income decreased by 13.1 percentage points, and the proportion of operating and property income increased by 9.9 and 11.8 percentage points respectively.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Local Taxation Bureau of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, in 2016, the individual tax on wages and salaries accounted for 59.8% of the individual tax, which was 6.7 percentage points lower than the 66.5% in 2011. The dependence of residents’ income on wages and salaries declined, and the proportion of capital income and property income increased.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in recent years, the state has vigorously promoted precise poverty alleviation, the policy of benefiting the people has been continuously strengthened, and various social security standards such as pensions have been continuously improved, which has led to a rapid growth in the net transfer income of urban and rural residents. The increase in rental housing income and dividend income has led to a rapid growth in the net income of urban residents’ property. At the same time, the net income of rural residents’ property has increased rapidly under the guidance of the state’s policies of actively developing various forms of agricultural moderate scale operation and encouraging farmers to voluntarily transfer contracted land management rights according to law.
Some groups face the problem of increasing income.
Although the income of urban residents shows some bright spots, such as the rapid growth of income, the shrinking income gap and the increasingly diversified sources, the current continuous increase of income of urban and rural residents is also facing new challenges, and it is more difficult for some groups to increase their income.
According to a survey conducted by the reporter of Economic Information Daily, some industries are under great pressure to reduce production capacity, which affects the wage growth of employees. Li Xiaodong, the foreman of the First Team of Comprehensive Excavation in Xinyuan Coal Mine of Shanxi Yangmei Group, said that as an old miner with more than 20 years of service, his income has not increased much in recent years. When the coal market is poor, it is not easy to ensure that the income will not drop sharply, and the growth is far less than that of the rural "unskilled".
According to the reporter’s investigation, steel, coal, electric power and other industries are under great pressure to reduce production capacity. Some trading companies, large shopping malls and other enterprises have difficulties in operating, and their employees’ income is flat or declining. Some overcapacity and zombie enterprises are merged and reorganized, and some employees are laid off, which affects the income growth of relevant personnel.
At the same time, the income growth of migrant workers has slowed down, and the ability to transfer employment to technology-intensive departments is insufficient. Li Mingguang, a migrant worker engaged in the decoration industry in Jinan, said that in the past year or two, the construction industry in Jinan has been somewhat depressed, which has affected the income of migrant workers who mainly take odd jobs. "Now the wages have increased a lot compared with five or six years ago. The competition is fierce, and there are more people and less work. This year, I often work for a few days and rest for a few days. The income will not be much more than last year."
According to statistics, from 2014 to 2016, the average monthly income of migrant workers increased by 9.8%, 7.2% and 6.6% respectively, and the growth rate dropped year by year. In 2016, more than half of migrant workers were still concentrated in traditional industries such as manufacturing and construction, and the proportion of receiving skills training was not high, and the ability to transfer employment to technology-intensive departments was insufficient. More than 60% of migrant workers have not signed labor contracts with employers or units, and their employment stability is not high.
In addition, the price fluctuation of some agricultural products restricts the steady growth of net income from agricultural operations. "The price of corn is low, but the drought and flood are guaranteed, and the fluctuation is small. If it can’t be sold this year, it can be sold next year. The profit prospect of vegetables is good, but it is difficult for farmers to bear once they lose money." Song Hailong, a cadre of Nanwei Village, Fushan County, Shanxi Province, said, "Wei Shiye, a poor household in Nanwei Village, borrowed 50,000 yuan to engage in facility vegetables, and lost more than 30,000 yuan in half a year, which failed to get rid of poverty and increased the burden."
Agricultural income is still the main income of rural households. According to statistics, more than half of the net operating income of rural residents in 2016 came from agriculture. However, the growth of rural residents’ net agricultural income slowed down, with growth rates of 6.8%, 4.6% and 1.1% from 2014 to 2016 respectively. The main reason is that the import impact of foreign low-priced agricultural products has increased, the prices of some domestic agricultural products have continued to decline, the income of agricultural products such as grain has declined, and the difficulty in increasing agricultural net income has intensified. At the same time, the ability of agriculture to resist natural disasters is still weak. In 2016, some areas were greatly affected by natural disasters, and agriculture experienced a decrease in income.
At present, the policy of benefiting the people needs a new focus to stimulate income growth. Zhu Guihua, a citizen of Jinan, retired from an enterprise last year with a monthly pension of more than 1,800 yuan. She said that the salary increase of enterprise retirees this year was 6.5%, which was the lowest in the past decade. Retirees in many enterprises have a low pension base. For her, the increase of 6.5% is less than that of 120 yuan, and the increase is not in line with psychological expectations.
With the aging of the population and the increase of rigid expenditure on treatment, the dependency ratio of the basic old-age insurance system for enterprise employees in Zhejiang decreased from 7.08 at the end of 2010 to 2.79 at the end of 2016. In 2017, the budget of the basic old-age insurance fund for enterprise employees in Zhejiang showed a deficit, and sustainable development faced challenges.
In recent years, the net transfer income of urban and rural residents has increased rapidly, thanks to the improvement of various social security standards and the increase in poverty alleviation investment. As the government’s transfer payments continue to increase and the financial burden increases, it is more difficult to continuously introduce inclusive policies to benefit the people. A number of interviewed experts said that if there is no new inclusive policy and the existing policy standards for benefiting the people are not greatly improved, it will be difficult to support the residents’ transfer of net income to continue to maintain rapid growth.
Improve the income control system
In view of the current employment situation, some respondents suggested promoting employment and entrepreneurship to increase income, deepening the reform of the wage system, improving the income control system, and deepening the reform of the wage system of government agencies, enterprises and institutions.
In terms of increasing income from employment and entrepreneurship, many interviewees suggested that the first is to promote the construction of entrepreneurial platforms such as creative space and business incubation bases, implement policies such as employment and entrepreneurship service subsidies and incubation subsidies, and lower the threshold for entrepreneurship. Encourage farmers to engage in e-commerce entrepreneurship, build an entrepreneurial service platform, and make full use of farm stock construction land to build a farm entrepreneurial base. The second is to promote the full employment of key groups, improve the identification and assistance system for people with employment difficulties, implement classified and accurate assistance, and develop public welfare posts for the placement of people with employment difficulties. The third is to strengthen vocational skills and improve the quality of employment. Build and upgrade public training bases for high-skilled talents, make full use of Internet technology, and explore the establishment of individual study accounts and credit accumulation systems for workers. We will implement training programs for family farmers, modern young farmers and leaders of new agricultural business entities to speed up the training of professional farmers.
In terms of deepening the reform of the wage system of government agencies, enterprises and institutions, experts suggest that, first, actively cultivate the wage referendum and normal growth mechanism of enterprise employees, so that employees can enjoy more "right to speak" in wage growth. Establish enterprise benefit sharing mechanism and encourage mixed ownership economy to implement employee stock ownership. The second is to explore the establishment of an income distribution incentive mechanism that conforms to the industry characteristics of public institutions and is oriented to increasing knowledge value, and to establish a multi-factor distribution mechanism according to technology and contribution. For high-level talents, the policy of income distribution tilt can be formulated separately. The third is to steadily increase the income of government staff. On the basis of standardizing allowances and subsidies, the regional additional allowance system is implemented to rationally regulate the wage gap in different regions; Standardize incentive subsidies, give local authorities the right to distribute certain assessment rewards, and focus on grassroots frontline personnel and outstanding performance personnel.
In addition, in terms of improving the income control system and promoting income equity, Zhu Guihua and other enterprise retirees said that although the government advocates the integration of pensions, compared with the pensions of retirees in government agencies and institutions, the pension base of enterprise retirees is low, even if the same increase is maintained, the gap between the actual amount of growth is still large. According to the difference of pension base between retirees in institutions and enterprises, a more targeted pension growth rate can be formulated.
Chen Bin Kai, an associate professor at the School of Economics of the Central University of Finance and Economics, suggested continuing to improve the policy of equal opportunities in the initial distribution. The increase of income of low-income class mainly depends on non-agricultural employment, and its employment direction is often labor-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises. Support can be provided to such enterprises to raise the income level of the middle and lower classes, such as encouraging the development of small and medium-sized enterprises through fiscal and tax preferential policies and financial policies. It can also increase the transfer payment to low-income groups and improve the efficiency of transfer payment. For example, in the tax system, we can give full play to the role of tax as a redistribution tool, reduce the tax burden of low-and middle-income groups and small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthen the tax collection for high-income groups.
Yu Zijin, director of the Local Taxation Bureau of Wanli District, Nanchang City, suggested that the threshold should be raised appropriately to benefit the middle and low income groups and gradually expand the middle income groups. Give play to the role of individual tax in the redistribution of national income, strengthen the adjustment of capital and property income, adjust excessive income, and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
