Perceptions of distributive justice and public attitudes towards government welfare responsibility in China: moderating role of urban-rural and regional difference

ABSTRACT

While current research mainly focuses on the social justice of contemporary people, it lacks attention to generational contradictions and distributive justice. This article analyses how citizens’ perceptions of distributive justice shape public attitudes towards government welfare responsibility in China. Using China General Social Survey data in 2015, it found that people upholding strong perception of intergenerational justice hold positive attitudes towards government responsibility for welfare provision, while people with strong perception of intragenerational justice are less supportive. Besides, intragenerational justice could mediate the effect of intergenerational justice on public attitudes towards government welfare responsibility. Furthermore, it reveals profound urban-rural and regional difference could moderate the effects of citizen’s perception of intergenerational justice and intragenerational justice on public attitudes. These findings indicate that a more unified welfare system should be established, and expand the spatial boundaries of social justice for both the present and future generations.

KEYWORDS:

• Government welfare responsibility
• distributive justice
• intergenerational justice
• intragenerational justice
• urban-rural and regional difference

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Iljin Hong, Shuwei Zhang and other participants of The I Forum on Welfare State and Social Policy and The 9th Chinese Public Administration Forum organized by SunYat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, for their constructive feedback and comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data accessibility statement

The data and materials are available in the website of Chinese National Survey Data Archive (http://www.cnsda.org/)

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the grants from Guangdong Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project [Grant no. GD24YMK05], the grants from Key Projects of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education in China [Grant no. 22JZD025], the grants from Key Research base of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Education, Center for Chinese Public Administration Research, Sun Yat-Sen University [Grant no. 22JJD630021].

Notes on contributors

Qiu Cheng

Qiu Cheng is an assistant professor in School of Marxism, Sun Yat-Sen University in China. His main interests include social assistance, welfare state, and world socialism.

Kinglun Ngok

Kinglun Ngok is a professor in School of Government, Center for Chinese Public Administration Research, Sun Yat-Sen University in China. His main interests include social policy, social governance, and social assistance.