Jianfa SHEN

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Hukou Identity, Education and Migration The
Case of Guangdong

• Jianfa SHEN
• Department of Geography and Resource Management
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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Contents

• Introduction
• Data and methodology
• Effect of hukou status on occupation
• Effect of hukou identity on migration
• Conclusion

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Introduction

• Hukou (household registration) system
• During 1950s to early 1980s, Chinese society was
  divided into urban and rural areas separately
• Individuals are registered in a particular place
• under hukou categories of agricultural population
  and non-agricultural population
• Urban residents with hukou category of
  non-agricultural population
• were eligible for much economic and welfare
  benefit such as education, housing and employment
• The concept of hukou identity in this paper is
  defined based on such hukou category

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Introduction

• Since the early 1980s, Chinese people have been
  allowed to move to other places without change
  their place of hukou registration
• Hukou status with or without local hukou
• Temporary population
• people without local hukou
• Hukou population
• people with local hukou
• Temporary (non-hukou) migrants
• without local hukou
• Permanent (hukou) migrants
• with local hukou

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Hukou system and migration
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Introduction

• Previous studies focused on the impact of hukou
  status on migration
• The temporary migrants were treated as a
  homogenous group
• Different hukou identities of agricultural and
  non-agricultural populations will also affect
  migration outcome
• Agricultural population is more likely to engage
  in temporary migration
• Difference in permanent and temporary migration
  is also related to the difference in education
  level
• Effect of spatial scale on migration
• hukou constrains on temporary migrants are only
  effective for temporary migrants from outside a
  city

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Introduction

• Research question
• Is the observed effect of hukou status on
  migration affected by
• Education level
• Hukou category
• Spatial scale of migration?

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Data and methodology

• Guangdong for a case study
• Rapid industrialization and urbanization since
  the 1980s
• Driven by foreign investment
• Migrant workers are the main production force
• Largest destination of temporary migration
• A temporary population of 25.30 million
• 15.06 million from other provinces in 2000
• One per thousand sampling data
• In 2000, 9.44 of the population was asked to
  complete a long census form in Guangdong
• The data set used is a 1 sample of people
  completing the long census form
• Sample population of 78684
• non-migrants
• new migrants who migrated in the five-year period
  1995-2000
• old migrants who had ever migrated before 1
  November 1995
• This paper will focus on the non-migrants and new
  migrants

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Data and methodology

• The occupation data will be used to represent the
  migration outcome
• The difference between permanent and temporary
  migration would be identified
• education level will be controlled
• Temporary migrants would also be differentiated
  according to their original place of hukou
• within same county-level unit, within same
  province or other provinces
• to examine the impact of spatial scale on
  migration
• The impact of hukou category of agricultural
  population and non-agricultural population on
  migration will be examined
• controlling the education level and the hukou
  status

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Effect of hukou status on occupation

• Majority of non-migrants had low occupational
  status
• 64.27 of male non-migrants were peasants
• 17.49 of male non-migrants were employed as
  plant and machine operators
• Male permanent migrants were distributed more
  evenly among low and high occupations
• 10.68 were managers and administrators
• 25.05 were professionals
• 27.57 plant and machine operators
• Male temporary migrants were in the types of
• plant and machine operators (57.20)
• sales and services workers (21.49)

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Effect of hukou status on occupation

• The spatial scale has clear impact on the
  migration outcome
• temporary migrants from the same county-level
  unit had an occupational profile close to that of
  permanent migrants, much better than that of
  non-migrants.
• the temporary migrants from other provinces had
  the lowest socio-economic status
• Lots of female permanent migrants were peasants
  due to many rural to rural permanent migration
  for marriage
• There was little gender difference among
  temporary migrants

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Effect of hukou status on occupation

• When education level was controlled
• The temporary migrants from the same county-level
  unit had an occupational profile
• close to or better than that of permanent
  migrants
• Temporary migrants from outside the province had
  lower occupation status than both permanent
  migrants and non-migrants
• indicating their disadvantageous position
• The social-economic status declines from
• permanent migrants
• temporary migrants from the same county-level
  unit
• non-migrants
• temporary migrants from outside the county-level
  unit of the same province
• temporary migrants from outside the province

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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• The hukou identity has major implications to
  peoples social and welfare in China
• Most permanent migrants have hukou category of
  non-agricultural population
• Most temporary migrants have hukou category of
  agricultural population and most of them come
  from other provinces
• The observed difference in permanent and
  temporary migrants
• could result from the difference in the hukou
  status or the difference in hukou identity or
  both
• Agricultural population had lower education level
  than non-agricultural population
• For non-agricultural population
• Both permanent and temporary migrants had better
  education level than non-migrants
• The permanent migrants had better education than
  temporary migrants
• For agricultural population
• temporary migrants had better education than
  permanent migrants which had better education
  than non-migrants

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Effect of hukou identity on migration
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Effect of hukou identity on migration
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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• The temporary migrants had no disadvantage in
  education comparing with permanent migrants of
  the agricultural population
• They had disadvantages in education only when
  compared with non-agricultural population
• Simple comparisons of permanent and temporary
  migrants ignored the significant impact of hukou
  identity and education level on migration outcome
• The poor education provision for agricultural
  population may be a fundamental factor in the
  poor economic performance of current temporary
  migrants
• The hukou identity is yet another important
  factor in addition to the hukou status
• The impact of hukou status can only be shown
  precisely by controlling hukou identity and
  education level

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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• Considering the people with only primary
  education, hukou category had clear impact on the
  occupation status
• Over 40 permanent migrants were peasants for
  agricultural population
• Less than 8 permanent migrants were peasants for
  non-agricultural population
• Temporary migrants were less likely to be
  peasants for both agricultural and
  non-agricultural population
• There was no negative effect of hukou status on
  temporary migrants from the same county-level
  units
• Permanent migrants only had advantage over
  temporary migrants from outside the county-level
  units
• Non-migrants with local hukou, especially male
  non-migrants of non-agricultural population, also
  had no clear advantage over temporary migrants
• Low occupation status of temporary migrants is
  largely due to their primary education which is
  lower than that of most permanent migrants

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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• Considering the people with only lower secondary
  education
• Hukou category had some impacts on the occupation
  status
• Among temporary migrants, non-agricultural
  population was more likely to be managers and
  administrators, professionals, clerks, and sales
  and services workers than agricultural population
• For male agricultural population
• The permanent migrants had the best occupation
  status, followed by temporary migrants from the
  county-level units, temporary migrants from
  outside the county-level units and non-migrants
• For female agricultural population
• The temporary migrants from the county-level
  units had the best occupation profile, followed
  by temporary migrants from outside the
  county-level units, non-migrants and permanent
  migrants
• Temporary hukou status has negative effect on
  male agricultural population but not on female
  agricultural population

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Effect of hukou identity on migration
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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• For male non-agricultural population with lower
  secondary education
• The temporary migrants from the county-level
  units had the best occupation status, followed by
  permanent migrants, non-migrants and temporary
  migrants from outside the county-level units
• For female non-agricultural population with lower
  secondary education
• The temporary migrants from the county-level
  units had the best occupation status, followed by
  non-migrants, temporary migrants from outside the
  county-level units of the same province,
  permanent migrants, and temporary migrants from
  other provinces
• Once again, permanent migrants had no universal
  advantage over temporary migrants

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Effect of hukou identity on migration
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Effect of hukou identity on migration

• There was no negative effect of hukou status on
  temporary migrants from the same county-level
  units
• Permanent migrants only had advantage over
  temporary migrants from outside the county-level
  units or other provinces
• Non-migrants with local hukou also had no clear
  advantage over temporary migrants especially
  agricultural population

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Conclusions

• As a society with a dual structure of urban and
  rural sectors, an important research question is
• whether an individuals mobility and migration
  outcome are constrained and affected by their
  hukou identity and hukou status in China
• This paper argues that the migration outcome of
  temporary migrants depends on
• not only their temporary hukou status
• but also their hukou identity largely as
  agricultural population and low level of
  education
• As revealed in this paper, temporary migrants
  with hukou identity of non-agricultural
  population, high level of education or from the
  same county-level cities
• do have higher socio-economic status than
  non-migrants and even permanent migrants
• The observed low status of temporary migrants
• being mostly with low level of education, a hukou
  category of agricultural population and from
  outside the province
• is a result of their education level, hukou
  identity, temporary hukou status and the spatial
  scale of inter-provincial migration

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Conclusions

• Although inter-provincial temporary migrants from
  outside Guangdong do suffer from their temporary
  hukou status
• The fundamental cause of their low socio-economic
  status after migration
• lies in the unfavourable socio-economic
  environment and educational opportunity at their
  rural origin with a hukou identity of
  agricultural population

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Conclusions

• The story goes on as follows
• The rural population is assigned a hukou identity
  of agricultural population
• Such population has less chance to receive
  secondary or higher education either because of
  lack of the provision of education in rural areas
  
• The local urban population is assigned a hukou
  identity of non-agricultural population, is
  better educated and is given more opportunities
  for permanent migration
• Thus permanent migrants are mainly better
  educated with hukou identity of non-agricultural
  population while temporary migrants are mainly
  poor educated with hukou identity of agricultural
  population
• Such temporary migrants especially those from
  other provinces further surfer from institutional
  and job market discrimination even with the same
  level of education in comparison with permanent
  migrants or non-migrants

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• Thank You!