Hukou System Flashcards
Hukou
A core Chinese socioeconomic institution
* the residency permit issued in the People’s Republic of China in 1950s which officially identifies a person as a resident of an area8
Why was Hukou used?
- during the Mao Years (1949-76) the hukou system was used to restrict migration and avoid unmanageable growth in cities
Hukou rules
• people only had access to social and welfare facilities and benefits in their home district.
• If they moved, they lost their entitlement to housing and employment anywhere else in China
Consequences of the Hukou system
- reduced contacts between urban and rural areas (split families)
- economic inequalities to develop (wealth differences)
- social inequalities (discrimination)
- The floating population
Consequences on Hukou system (social inequalities)
- Migrants can get urban residency if 有 permanent job 和 good income (ie from a privileged classes.
- However, this discriminates against poorer rural migrants whose unskilled labour keeps most cities functioning
- school discrimination
Hukou reform: Temporary urban hukou
However, since the 1990s, demand for unskilled and semi-skilled labour in cities has led to rural migrants being given a temporary urban hukou enabling them to have access to some housing and basic welfare in cities
Consequences of the Hukou system (“the floating population”)
migrants with a temporary hukou since they cannot stay permanently in a new location.
- This inflexibility has led to problems for young people in accessing education, health services and training.
Consequences of Hukou (economic and wealth inequalities)
• Hukou has increased the inequality of access to services in cities
• Stat: in 2009 as many as 20 million migrants may have had to return to their rural homes increasing the wealth gap in China.
Hukou system: left behind children and education statistic
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58 million children left behind
Another 19 million remain in cities as second-class citizens
• both groups have poorer academic performance and more behavioural problems
State schools receive no funding for migrant pupil so often claim to be full. - Others charge illicit donations of as much as 6,000 yuan a term. A migrants entire income
Consequences of the Hukou system (split families)
• Migrant women (due to their semi permanent resident status) tend to return to their rural homes to marry and have their child.
• Many young couples have no alternatives but to find work in cities and their children are brought up Grandparents left behind in rural areas
• Young ppl have left the countryside leaving behind elderly people and young children.
- These problems manifest in lower attainment and poorer health
Hukou vs population statistic
- Between 2011 and 2014, the increase in their overall population was 50% larger than the increase in their hukou-holding population.
- That suggests that roughly 1/3 new residents had to get by without a local hukou
Consequences of Hukou (positive)
- Without it, mass migration would occur resulting in slums
- during the mao era, communist party decided to segregate urban and rural residents.
Impact of Hukou on economic growth
- The ban of Hukou could allow China to more efficiently access unused productive forces in the countryside
Small government’s response to the inefficiency of Hukou (reform)
- 2021 December, Shanghai=allow graduates of universities to acquire Hukou
- Hainan will reform household registrations into a unified system for all residents, urban and rural
What is the CCP’s goal with Hukou?
The country strives to build an integrated society of ‘common prosperity’
- A CCP political slogan and stated policy to bolster social equality. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, common prosperity = egalitarianism and collective ownership.
