贫富

• Pinyin: pín fù
• Hanzi breakdown: 贫 = 贝 + 分 (valuables + divide — wealth divided away → poverty); 富 = 宀 + 畐 (roof + full — house full of goods → wealth)

Meaning

Poverty and wealth; the rich and the poor. Used to describe the divide or spectrum between economic strata in society.

贫富 appears in key phrases: 贫富差距 (wealth gap), 贫富分化 (polarisation of rich and poor), 贫富悬殊 (extreme wealth disparity). Central to economic policy discussions, social justice debates, and sociological analysis.

Examples

1. 缩小城乡之间的贫富差距，是推进共同富裕目标、实现社会公平正义的核心课题之一。 Narrowing the wealth gap between urban and rural areas is one of the core tasks in advancing the goal of common prosperity and achieving social fairness and justice.
2. 这位慈善家出身贫寒，深知贫富悬殊对个人命运的深远影响，因此长期致力于教育扶贫事业。 Born into poverty, this philanthropist understands the profound impact that extreme inequality can have on a person’s fate, so he has long devoted himself to education-based poverty alleviation.
3. 经济全球化在推动整体财富增长的同时，也在不少国家加剧了贫富分化，引发了广泛的社会关注与政策讨论。 While economic globalization has driven overall wealth growth, it has also intensified the rich-poor divide in many countries, prompting widespread concern and policy debate.

Usage Guide

Context: economics, social policy, journalism, academia

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 研究数据显示，过去二十年间全球贫富差距持续扩大，顶层百分之一人口所掌握的财富总量已超过其余所有人口财富之和。(Research data shows that over the past twenty years the global wealth gap has continued to widen, with the wealth held by the top one per cent of the population now exceeding the combined wealth of all remaining people.)
• 政府在制定税收和社会保障政策时，必须充分考量贫富分化对社会稳定与人心向背的潜在影响，以防范系统性社会风险的积聚。(When formulating tax and social security policies, the government must fully account for the potential impact of wealth polarisation on social stability and public sentiment, in order to guard against the build-up of systemic social risks.)

Don't Say

• 贫富 is a compound noun/modifier — avoid saying 贫富的人 as a standalone phrase; use 贫富差距 or 贫富悬殊 when referring specifically to the disparity between groups

Origin & History

贫 (poor — 贝 valuables + 分 divide — valuables divided and exhausted) + 富 (wealthy — 宀 roof + 畐 full — a house full of goods)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal