The Household Registration System and Migrant Labor in China: Notes on a Debate

TLDR

The Chinese hukou system classifies residents as rural or urban, restricting mobility and access to state services, and since its 1950s inception it has largely barred rural‑to‑urban migration despite calls for reform. The paper examines the growing academic and media interest in proposed hukou reforms. The study notes that post‑1970s reforms let rural workers enter cities for labor needs while keeping their rural hukou, thereby denying them urban benefits such as subsidized housing.

Abstract

The household registration (hukou) system in China, classifying each person as a rural or an urban resident, is a major means of controlling population mobility and determining eligibility for state-provided services and welfare. Established in the late 1950s, it was initially used to bar rural-to-urban migration. After the late 1970s reforms, an inflow of rural migrant workers was allowed into the cities to meet labor demands in the burgeoning export industries and urban services without, however, changing the migrants' registered status, thus precluding their access to subsidized housing and other benefits available to those with urban registration. While there have been many calls for reforming this system, progress has been limited. Proposed reforms have attracted increasing academic and media attention.