During the past decades, the transformation of the labor market has significantly impacted on workers' wage structures and their employment in China. Along with the widening wage gaps and the growing income inequalit...During the past decades, the transformation of the labor market has significantly impacted on workers' wage structures and their employment in China. Along with the widening wage gaps and the growing income inequalities, the size of non-standard jobs expanded rapidly in China's urban labor market. As a result of this, the concept of working poor has become increasingly applicable to social and labor market realities in China, Based on the household survey data and by using quantitative analysis, this paper attempts to examine the interaction between the compulsory minimum wage standards and the working poor in the period of China's economic transition. The results show that for those whose monthly wages higher than the compulsory minimum wage standards were less likely to work poor and that workers with wages lower than the minimum wage floor were vulnerable to working poor, which supported the expectation that the implementation of compulsory minimum wages would help to reduce the risk of being a member among the working poor in China's urban labor market.展开更多
文摘During the past decades, the transformation of the labor market has significantly impacted on workers' wage structures and their employment in China. Along with the widening wage gaps and the growing income inequalities, the size of non-standard jobs expanded rapidly in China's urban labor market. As a result of this, the concept of working poor has become increasingly applicable to social and labor market realities in China, Based on the household survey data and by using quantitative analysis, this paper attempts to examine the interaction between the compulsory minimum wage standards and the working poor in the period of China's economic transition. The results show that for those whose monthly wages higher than the compulsory minimum wage standards were less likely to work poor and that workers with wages lower than the minimum wage floor were vulnerable to working poor, which supported the expectation that the implementation of compulsory minimum wages would help to reduce the risk of being a member among the working poor in China's urban labor market.