Affordable and clean energy, eliminating poverty, and reducing inequality are important goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper examines the role of access to clean cooking fuels in promoting income growth and reducing income inequality. Using data from Chinese households, we show that a 10% increase in the adoption of clean cooking fuels would result in an increase in total annual household income of US$37 billion nationwide. Income growth from access to clean cooking fuels is greater for lower-income groups due to a shift to higher household income and reduced downward household income mobility, which contributes to a reduction in income inequality. The effect of access to clean cooking fuels on household income growth is primarily driven by improved health and increased labor supply. The use of clean cooking fuels also saves fuel collection time and cooking time, reducing time spent on household chores by about 0.4 h per day, thereby increasing labor supply in the job market and improving wage income. Improvements in income due to clean cooking fuels are influenced by external conditions, urbanization, education, employment opportunities, and good market conditions. With further promotion of clean cooking fuels, household income and inequality in China are expected to improve further by 2030 and contribute more widely to human well-being and achievement of the SDGs.

The widespread dissemination of policy information is necessary for the success of the public policy, but the distribution of information among vulnerable groups has received little attention. We examined a public policy that focuses on the poorest people in China, the anti-poverty relocation and settlement program (ARSP). The infrastructure in the region where the policy is implemented is weak, and the information literacy of resettlers is low. This study analyses the impact of the policy information gap on the subjective well-being of resettlers. We found that the distribution of policy information among the poor is uneven, and the resettlers compare the policy information they obtain with a reference group (working-age people and less-educated people in the same village/community) to generate a policy information gap. The policy information gap indirectly affects subjective well-being by affecting the probability that people will be exposed to risks due to policy. As the policy information gap increases, the subjective well-being of resettlers changes in an inverted U-shape. This impact varies significantly among different groups, policy implementation stages, and resettlement methods. Attention should be paid to the information acquisition ability of the vulnerable groups and the welfare effects of social comparison, and to improve the method of publicizing policy information, which helps to improve the well-being of resettlers.