Interactive Mechanism Between Income Distribution Reform and Improvement of People’s Well-being

Abstract

To explore the two-way interactive logic between income distribution reform and the improvement of people’s well-being, resolve practical obstacles to their coordinated development, and advance the goal of common prosperity, this paper constructs a two-way interactive analytical framework of “reform – improvement – re-reform – re-improvement” from multidisciplinary perspectives including Marxist distribution theory and welfare economics. It systematically sorts out the four-stage practical evolution of China’s income distribution reform and four major achievements in boosting people’s well-being, and analyzes core challenges such as imperfect primary distribution systems, mismatched supply and demand of people’s livelihood services, and insufficient policy coordination. The study finds that income distribution reform elevates people’s well-being through the foundational support of primary distribution, targeted regulation of redistribution, and supplementary advancement of tertiary distribution. In turn, improved people’s well-being feeds back into income distribution reform via human capital accumulation, social stability safeguards, and demand-driven institutional optimization. Accordingly, this paper proposes optimization approaches covering three dimensions: refining the three-tier distribution system, upgrading the quality of livelihood services, and establishing an interactive coordination mechanism. These measures aim to foster a virtuous cycle between income distribution reform and the advancement of people’s well-being, providing theoretical references and practical guidance for realizing common prosperity.