Chinese Struggling Less Than Americans to Afford Basics

[beijingwalker]

Chinese Struggling Less Than Americans to Afford Basics
Almost one in five Americans say they did not have enough money for food in the past year
by Rajesh Srinivasan and Bryant Ott

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Gallup surveys in China and the U.S. reveal Chinese are struggling less than Americans to put food on their tables. Six percent of Chinese in 2011 say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed, down significantly from 16% in 2008. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans saying they did not have money for food in the previous 12 months more than doubled from 9% in 2008 to 19% in 2011.

Chinese are also struggling less to afford adequate shelter. Sixteen percent of Chinese say in 2011 there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to provide adequate shelter or housing for themselves and their families. This marks considerable progress since 2008, when 21% of Chinese had trouble providing shelter.

Fewer Americans are struggling with housing costs than Chinese, but the number of Americans who are struggling is increasing. Eleven percent of Americans say there have been times in the past 12 months when they could not afford adequate housing, up from 5% in 2008.

Bottom Line

Since the financial crisis began in 2008, more Americans have struggled to buy the food and shelter they and their families need. In China, on the other hand, fewer are struggling despite a slight slowdown in the country's economic growth.

Key behavioral metrics such as having enough food and adequate shelter are important for leaders to track, Gallup Chairman Jim Clifton writes in his new book, The Coming Jobs War, "not only because they occur before job and GDP growth … but also because without these basic requirements, the populace doesn't have the energy to solve its everyday problems."

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with approximately 4,100 adults in China and approximately 1,000 adults in the U.S., aged 15 and older, conducted each year from 2007 to 2011. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranged from ±2.1 to ±4.1 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.

 

[beijingwalker]

standard of living in US is declining fast.wondering why the country still go thousands of miles away from home trying to pick fight and police the planet.dont know when they can realize that they just no longer has the money and strength to do that,but by then maybe the country is already bankrupt.

---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------

China's biggest problem is the housing price.nothing short of craziness.

 

[beijingwalker]

hard days yet to come

 

[Viva_Viet]

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Gallup surveys in China and the U.S. reveal Chinese are struggling less than Americans to put food on their tables. Six percent of Chinese in 2011 say there have been times in the past 12 months when they did not have enough money to buy food that they or their family needed, down significantly from 16% in 2008. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans saying they did not have money for food in the previous 12 months more than doubled from 9% in 2008 to 19% in 2011.

But poor American have food stamp when poor Chinese don't.

 

[beijingwalker]

US is overall still far ahead of China just like China is way better than some country.

 

[gambit]

Made In China Doesn't Mean Cheap In China : NPR

China has made a fortune producing cheap products that sell for low prices around the world.

Yet many high-end goods manufactured in China –- everything from iPads to Coach bags — actually cost more in China than they do in the United States.

To figure out why, I recently visited a luxury shopping mall in Beijing with Professor Nie Huihua, who teaches economics at the People's University.

We went to the sixth floor of the mall, where Apple products were being sold, including an iPad 2 that was going for $700. The same iPad 2 costs $499 at an Apple store in Washington, D.C.

We then went to a Columbia sportswear store to get some prices. There was a blue backpack, called the Trail Grinder, which wasn't very big and was selling for 1,399 Chinese yuan — or about $220. Back in the U.S., that made-in-China backpack retails for just $139.

Graft Contributes To High Prices

Nie says products like this cost more in China because of the country's high transportation fees and local government corruption.

Last year, a trucker in East China's Henan Province was caught using fake military license plates to avoid paying tolls along a 110-mile stretch of road. It's easy to see why: Tolls and fees for a single trip are $230.

"It is impossible for him to make a profit if he pays all the tolls and fees legally," Nie says.

Paul French, chief China strategist for Access Asia-Mintel, a consumer analysis firm, says local governments can continue to gouge truckers because China is still essentially a state-run economy.

"In a market economy, those things will work themselves out," French said. "People will push to reduce those costs. It's just not possible to do that in China. You can buy all the trucks you want. What you can't get rid of is local officials that are on the graft."

China Imposes High Taxes

Another reason high-end goods cost more here is because China taxes them so much. But in a market loaded with fakes, wealthy Chinese are willing to pay a premium for authentic products they can show off.

"At the high end of the market, there is also a certain, kind of flash-for-cash culture," French said. "It doesn't really matter what the price is. The whole point is to be seen to pay and to be able to pay."

Because of the price differential, many Chinese buy luxury goods when traveling overseas.

On a recent trip to New York, a woman named Ling, who didn't want her full name used, went bargain hunting for a Gucci bag on Fifth Avenue.

Ling, who works for an Internet company, still had to shell out $1,000, but she says she thinks she got a good deal compared to what she would have paid in China.

Like other Chinese, she asks friends traveling abroad to buy items for her, including clothes.

Even inside China, products can sell for very different prices.

Luxury goods are cheaper in Hong Kong, which is part of China but doesn't have a luxury tax. Recently, police nabbed a couple trying to smuggle hundreds of thousand of dollars in merchandise from Hong Kong onto the mainland. The stash included Prada handbags, Cartier jewelry and four iPhones.

 

[beijingwalker]

poor people dont buy high end products

 

[gambit]

poor people dont buy high end products

But they will buy fakes to look rich. Despite all you Chinese boys' attempts to portray China as somehow different, it is becoming more and more evident that Chinese are no different than the rest of us. You want more wealth, physical comfort, visual appeals, etc...etc...Chinese bleach their skin to look paler and adopt Western modes of dress and appearance. Your military is trying hard to conform to what they have no choice but admit superior ways of having a military, from professional education to how to salute each other. In the future, China and Chinese will have the same social problems as we do, from inflation to just about all the things you so self righteously criticize others have.

 

[beijingwalker]

But they will buy fakes to look rich. Despite all you Chinese boys' attempts to portray China as somehow different, it is becoming more and more evident that Chinese are no different than the rest of us. You want more wealth, physical comfort, visual appeals, etc...etc...Chinese bleach their skin to look paler and adopt Western modes of dress and appearance. Your military is trying hard to conform to what they have no choice but admit superior ways of having a military, from professional education to how to salute each other. In the future, China and Chinese will have the same social problems as we do, from inflation to just about all the things you so self righteously criticize others have.

I never attempted to say that Chinese people are different from other people.I always admit that China still has a long way to go to be on par with developed countries,I only say that China is on the right track to achieve that goal.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

But they will buy fakes to look rich. Despite all you Chinese boys' attempts to portray China as somehow different, it is becoming more and more evident that Chinese are no different than the rest of us. You want more wealth, physical comfort, visual appeals, etc...etc...Chinese bleach their skin to look paler and adopt Western modes of dress and appearance. Your military is trying hard to conform to what they have no choice but admit superior ways of having a military, from professional education to how to salute each other. In the future, China and Chinese will have the same social problems as we do, from inflation to just about all the things you so self righteously criticize others have.

What do you mean by western look. Americans are known to have to have no taste when it comes to fashion, just the tiny little tip of the upper class is mimicking European taste and esthetic.

You mean wanting wealth, physical comfort and visual appeal is some kind of western invention? So the palaces, silk embroidery, porcelain and jewelries in China or any other part of the world are not part of Chinese/ non-western culture at all.

No body knows what the future will entail.

BTW, one of my good friend is director of a Swiss very, very, very, high-end watch and jewelery company. He said, he actually doen't mind the many fakes, as the buyers cannot afford their products anyway. At least most of them will never afford anything from their company. But, if any of them will become rich enough, they will for 100% become a loyal customer. It's part of the marketing but without any cost. And also, he told me most fake buyers are people coming from Europe and the US.

 

[crimemaster_gogo]

Americans over eat so howmuchever they spend on food is not sufficient, their craving for fatty and cheesy food never end, look at the obesity levels in USA. its one of the highest causes of death in US.

Americans overspend than they earn, they waste natural resources like none on the planet, US has more cars than people, most of them drive gas guzzlers (SUV's) which is not at all economical

cut down over using of this planet earth u Americans.

 

[isro2222]

@gambit i agree with you.... Chinese people loves fakes.... They use fake to look rich.... They dont care about quality.... They just care how it looks from outside.... My neighbour buyed beautiful chair made in china.... He caught skin disease.... i buyed jumping rope which has meter. it was made in china. The rubber used on both side gave me scratchy palm.... Chinese products are threat to life.... Even toys and milk powder.... They even made fake medicines and label it made in india.... China indeed cheap country. They spreading disease around world.... Kids are their target.... May be they decided to under take world population seriouly.... May be they on mission to reduce world population....

 

[Götterdämmerung]

@gambit i agree with you.... Chinese people loves fakes.... They use fake to look rich.... They dont care about quality.... They just care how it looks from outside.... My neighbour buyed beautiful chair made in china.... He caught skin disease.... i buyed jumping rope which has meter. it was made in china. The rubber used on both side gave me scratchy palm.... Chinese products are threat to life.... Even toys and milk powder.... They even made fake medicines and label it made in india.... China indeed cheap country. They spreading disease around world.... Kids are their target.... May be they decided to under take world population seriouly.... May be they on mission to reduce world population....

You should buy reliable German products. But I'm afraid that a vast majority of your countrymen cannot even afford to fill their belly regularly than to even dream of buying consumer products from Germany.