Hukou

[4] While unrelated in origin, propiska in the Soviet Union and resident registration in Russia had a similar purpose and served as a model for modern China's hukou system.

[7][8][9] It has been the source of much inequality over the decades since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, as urban residents received benefits that ranged from retirement pension to education to health care, while rural citizens were often left to fend for themselves.

[10] This two-fold organization structure was linked to social policy, and those residents who held non-agricultural (i.e., urban) hukou status received benefits not available to their rural counterparts, and vice versa.

[10] The central government asserted that because rural areas had greater capacity to absorb and use excess labor, the majority of the population should be concentrated in these regions.

[10] Under the hukou system, the rural population was structured to serve as support for urban industrialization, both in agricultural production[10] and workers for state owned businesses.

After establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party enacted policies based on the notions of stability and rapid modernization, and the hukou system was no exception.

[11][page needed] Urban areas have historically been where authoritarian regimes are most vulnerable: to combat this, the central government gave preferential treatment to city residents, hoping to prevent uprisings against the state, particularly in the early years when it was especially susceptible to rebellion.

The xiangsui system, established under the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 11th–8th centuries BC) was used as a method of organizing and categorizing urban and rural land.

[10] According to the Examination of Hukou in Wenxian Tongkao published in 1317, there was a minister for population management during the Zhou dynasty named Simin (Chinese: 司民), who was responsible for recording births, deaths, emigrations and immigrations.

[23] Xiao He, the first Chancellor of the Han dynasty, added the chapter of Hu (Chinese: 户律, "Households Code") as one of the nine basic law codes of Han (Chinese: 九章律), and established the hukou system as the basis of tax revenue and conscription.The first formal codification of the hukou system arose at the end of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912)[24] with the 1911 Huji Law.

"[26] The instability and high rates of movement that characterized the years following the establishment of the nation impeded the central government's plan for society and the economy.

[10] Although the hukou system in its current form was not officially brought into being until 1958, the years preceding its establishment were characterized by growing efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to assert control over its populace.

[10] However, with Deng Xiaoping's rise to power in 1978 came the initiation of reforms that steadily began to alleviate some of the disparity between agricultural and non-agricultural hukou holders.

[28] During this period, nearly all of the approximately 600 million rural hukou residents were collectivized into village communal farms, where their agricultural output -– after state taxes – would be their only source of food.

With institutionalized exaggeration of output figures by local Communist leaders and massive declines in production, state taxes during those years confiscated nearly all food in many rural communes, leading to mass starvation and the deaths of more than 65 million Chinese people.

[29] The 100 million urban hukou residents, however, were fed by fixed food rations established by the central government, which declined to an average of 1500 calories per day at times but still allowed survival for almost all during the famine.

[36] Migrant workers' labor rights are also frequently violated – they work excessively long hours in poor conditions, and face physical and psychological harassment.

[38] Although such incidences are technically illegal and punishable by seven years' jail time, wage arrears still occur, and labor contracts and pensions may be disregarded.

[39] Rural residents rushed to fill this void, but without the support of hukou status-based government social programs, many of them were forced to leave their families behind.

[39] Economic growth throughout the years has maintained a high demand for labor in the cities that continues to be filled by migrant workers, and, in 2000, the Fifth National Population Census revealed that 22.9 million children between the ages of 0-14 were living without either one or both of their parents.

[39] Left-behind children are more likely to resist authority and experience problems interacting with their peers;[39] they are more likely to exhibit unhealthy behaviors such as foregoing breakfast and smoking, and have an increased likelihood of developing mental health issues, including loneliness and depression.

[41][page needed] Similarly, in 2003, the government called for lower fees for migrant children, but again failed to detail how it would help schools pay for this.

[41] Migrant children also disproportionately deal with mental health issues – 36% versus 22% among their local hukou counterparts – and 70% experience academic anxiety.

[44] Like the children of migrant workers, parents are known to experience psychological issues such as depression and loneliness,[44] and those who take care of their grandchildren may feel burdened by this responsibility.

In 1997, the state implemented a policy that granted urban hukou to the rural migrants who had a stable job in their newly resided towns and small cities.

[45] These policies were then made official in 2012 with the state document "Notice on Actively Yet Prudently Pushing Forward the Reform of Hukou System Management.

[49] Having said that, in November 2017, the government of Beijing implemented a 40-day "clean-up" campaign which was claimed as a way of getting rid of the unsafe structures and shantytowns in the city (where at least 8.2 million rural migrants lived).

[53][page needed] Meanwhile, others have also argued that by concentrating on cities, the hukou reforms have failed to target the poorer regions, where social welfare such as education and medical care are often not offered to the residents.

[55] In short, the majority of rural migrants thus are still largely overlooked due to their lack to urban hukou, which is often seen as starting point for gaining access to life well-being.

[56][page needed] The Floating Population Dynamic Monitoring Surveys, which have been conducted every year since 2010 by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, have reported that a significant number of migrant workers are in fact not interested in converting their hukou status.