China takes another step in dismantling the household registration system

The Chinese government last week released new guidance for provincial and city governments that significantly improves the access of China’s vast internal migrant population to public services. Cities are mandated to offer children of migrant workers the opportunity to attend school and, if necessary, financially guarantee children’s access to basic education. Migrant workers also gain access to social security and public health care in their city of residence, as well as the opportunity to benefit from employment services and rental housing offered by the city. The government's guidelines specify no reform schedules, and it seems that local governments are allowed to implement these reforms at their own pace.

Access to public services in China has traditionally been governed by the household registration system (hukou) rather than place of residence (domicile). The status of migrant workers has gradually improved over the past decade, including allowing access to certain public services and making it easier to transfer household registration to small and mid-sized cities. However, the latest guidance represents a significant step in improving conditions of migrants and reducing inequality. The reforms aspire to facilitate the urbanisation process, strengthen the public’s confidence in the political system and also support domestic consumer demand.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China currently has around 300 million migrant workers. Together they represent over 40 % of the Chinese labour force, and their numbers continue to increase slowly. About 120 million migrants work in the same administrative region where they have hukou rights. 112 million workers live in the same province, but in a different administrative region than their hukou. 68 million migrants work in different province from their hukou. Over 60 % of China’s internal migrants are men. Slightly over half of migrants work in the service sector, just under 30 % work in manufacturing and 14 % in construction. The numbers of migrant workers shifting from the struggling construction sector to the service sector has increased in recent years, while the share in the migrants working in manufacturing has remained quite steady.