Asset Poverty and Happiness in Urban China

Drawing upon survey data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project, this study examines whether asset poverty—the lack of adequate assets to meet basic needs for a short period—is correlated with happiness among members of a sample from urban China. Several variables are found to mediate the relationship, and the findings have implications for efforts to develop asset-based social policies and programs. Published in Lifelong Asset Building, a special issue of the China Journal of Social Work, this study developed from a paper given during Lifelong Asset Building: Innovations and Strategies in Asia, a 2012 conference held at Peking University. Several articles from the special issue, including this one, were subsequently republished in Asset-Building Policies and Innovations in Asia.

Project: Global Assets Project