A Study On The Impact Of Rural Minimum Living Security On The Nutrition And Health Status Of Children From Poverty Alleviated Households

Under the background of the basic realization of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and the sudden COVID-19 epidemic,how to change from "eat well" to "eat well" is increasingly regarded as an important topic of social concern.At the same time,China is a populous country as well as a country with a large population of children.Children are the future of a nation and an important component of the entire nation.Their nutrition and health level are important basis for the overall quality of the nation.At present,China has placed improving children’s nutrition and health,as well as increasing intergenerational human capital in families,on an important agenda.The effectiveness of nutrition assistance policies such as the Rural Compulsory Education Student Nutrition Improvement Program and the Children’s Nutrition Improvement Project in impoverished areas in improving children’s nutrition and health is self-evident.The rural minimum living guarantee system(referred to as "subsistence allowance")is one of the largest social transfer payment projects in China.Existing research mostly focuses on the poverty reduction effect,operational efficiency,and targeting of subsistence allowance.Only a small portion of research discusses the indirect impact of subsistence allowance on children’s welfare,and there is a lack of research on the impact of subsistence allowance on children’s nutrition and health.At the same time,the food consumption of children is one of the important indicators to measure the welfare level of rural children.However,due to the lack of regulations on the use of subsidy funds for subsistence allowances,there may be problems with resource allocation within households.Currently,research on the impact mechanism of subsistence allowances on children’s nutrition and health is relatively scarce.Under the dual background of new progress in poverty alleviation and the COVID-19,can the subsistence allowance affect the nutrition and health status of children from poor families in rural areas? What is the mechanism by which subsistence allowance affects children’s nutrition and health? Is there a significant difference in the impact of subsistence allowance on the nutrition and health of children from impoverished households facing different mobility constraints and difficulties? The answers to these questions require both in-depth and detailed theoretical research and empirical verification based on scientific norms.Based on the theory of the vicious cycle of poverty,this article argues that poverty alleviation households who have just emerged from poverty are still in a relatively low income state,and may face difficulties in changing their consumption habits in the short term and insufficient consumer confidence,leading to insufficient investment in improving household human capital and falling into the risk of returning to poverty.Therefore,from the perspective of consumer behavior theory,based on the logical analysis framework of the two stage decision-making of rural poverty alleviation households,this paper conducts a theoretical analysis on the formulation of endowment budget constraints and cross period consumption and savings choices of rural poverty alleviation households under the subsistence allowance.On this basis,using data from the China Family Tracking Survey(CFPS),the impact and mechanism of subsistence allowance on children’s nutrition and health status are deeply analyzed.The main research conclusions are:(1)Low subsistence allowance can improve children’s short-term nutrition,but it will not affect their long-term nutrition and health.(2)If children consume too much,the score of unhealthy food and household food expenditure play a mediating role in the impact of subsistence allowances on children’s short-term nutritional status,while the score of children’s healthy food intake does not play a mediating role in the impact of subsistence allowances on children’s short-term nutritional status.(3)The mesomeric effect of family food consumption behavior on short-term nutrition of children from subsistence allowances and poverty alleviation families is regulated by mobility constraints and family difficulties.The coverage and intensity of subsistence allowances in China still need to be further improved.In addition,we should actively explore conditional cash transfer payment models that are suitable for China’s national conditions,and establish a sound transfer payment system with Chinese characteristics.