How do people view income inequality in China? An interactive framework of inequality and economic growth
2026-07-24
Economic inequality has become a pressing societal challenge worldwide, yet less is known about how individuals perceive and evaluate it. Drawing on longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS 2012–2018), this study uses modified hierarchical linear models to examine how objective inequality interacts with economic growth in shaping subjective inequality. The results show, first, that the average association between objective inequality and respondents’ severity ratings of inequality (SRI) is weak and not statistically significant. Second, economic growth moderates this association: objective inequality is associated with higher SRI only under low-growth conditions. Finally, this moderating role of economic growth is salient only among socio-economically disadvantaged individuals. These findings enhance our understanding of how individuals view economic inequality in China’s post-high-speed growth era and provide broader comparative implications for societies characterized by different configurations of inequality and economic growth.