The Differentiation of Wealth and Poverty in Community of Fishermen (Case Studies of An Hai and Binh Minh Communes)

Abstract

The author combines the quantitative and qualitative methods to study the differentiation of wealth and poverty in the community of fishermen of An Hai commune (Ly Son district, Quang Ngai province) and Binh Minh commune (Thang Binh district, Quang Nam province) - two localities having the main living source attatching to exploitation of sea products. The ratio of poverty and marginal poverty households has tendency of reduction in both localities but the gap between the wealth and the poverty is increasing among components of residents. The social differentiation is expressed in occupation structure, gender, age, education level and access to social services. The practice shows that the rich people become richer because they catch at an opportunity, bring into play their own capital and support of the State as well as take advantage of their wide social network. In contrast, the poor people become poorer with every passing day due to their labour disability and difficulty in access to financial resources for economic development.