Point-Based Hukou Policy Direction: An Examination of Reproduction of Social Inequalities in China, 2010-14

This doctoral thesis examines the reproduction of social inequalities in China, followed by evaluating the country’s contemporary point-based hukou policy. The hukou system serves as both institutional capital and a barrier, both defining or limiting the distribution of life chances. It can be categorised as agricultural/rural hukou and non-agricultural/urban hukou. Institutional capital generally refers to the advantages, rights, entitlements, and resources individuals derive directly from their standing or status within state-sanctioned institutions and legal frameworks. The hukou is a household registration system created, maintained, and enforced by the Chinese state. It is a quintessential institutional mechanism that categorises Chinese citizens and assigns them either a rural or urban hukou status, which is tied to a specific locality. The possession of a specific type of hukou, in addition to the specific locality to which it is tied, determines the amount of state-provided or subsidised resources and opportunities each hukou holder receives or is denied. This institutional capital was introduced in the 1950s primarily to control population mobility, limiting opportunities to relocate between villages and cities during the 20th century. This thesis addresses how the hukou distinction (rural vs. urban) perpetuates long-term social inequality and (im)mobility. Essentially, this thesis problematises and addresses hukou-induced social inequality and (im)mobility. Furthermore, the thesis explores how such inequality and (im)mobility are reproduced across generations. Next, this thesis discusses policy evaluation and recommendations aimed at mitigating these societal and institutional issues in China. Chapter One establishes the contextual framework of this doctoral research by examining how social inequality and (im)mobility are hukou-induced and intergenerationally reproduced. It examines how the ongoing hukou system and its distinctions compound the rural-urban divide in China. This chapter breaks down the discourse on social inequality and (im)mobility into five aspects: (1) institutional, (2) economic, (3) social, (4) cultural, and (5) political. Chapter One investigates how rural hukou holders, including both rural natives and migrant households, face everyday and structural discrimination in these aspects relative to their urban counterparts. The chapter further outlines the five research objectives: (1) investigate the profound rural-urban divide caused by hukou distinctions, (2) present how inequalities and social (im)mobility are socially constructed and intergenerationally reproduced, (3) analyse the concept of social standing through various indicators, (4) explore how Chinese citizens with inherited rural hukou are less socially insured, and (5) identify potential future hukou policy directions and suggest ways policymakers can address entrenched hukou-induced inequalities. Chapter Two is an extensive narrative review of China’s hukou system. This chapter outlines the genesis, functions, and trajectory of the hukou system’s implementation. Subsequently, the chapter highlights China’s current hukou policies: (1) Smaller cities and towns have been abolishing the hukou distinction, while (2) large cities and megacities have been practising the point-based hukou system. This system assigns points to migrants who satisfy certain conditions. For example, those earning a bachelor’s degree from first-tier universities may receive specific points. Those reaching sufficient points are granted opportunities for rural-to-urban hukou conversion, facilitating their naturalisation as urban citizens. Under this system, the brightest, most educated, skilled, and resourceful migrants are more likely to convert their hukou from rural to urban status. However, the least privileged migrants remain with rural hukou and continue to face everyday discrimination and marginalisation. It is noteworthy that this chapter explains that children inherit hukou status from their parents, receiving rural hukou if their parents hold it.. This clarification partly justifies how hukou-induced discrimination and inequalities are intergenerationally reproduced. Upon establishing the contextual framework, Chapter Three builds the theoretical framework of this doctoral research. It engages in theoretical discourse on (1) rural-to-urban labour migration dynamics and (2) the social and intergenerational reproduction of social inequality and (im)mobility. First, this chapter uses economic models to justify how rural-to-urban labour migration functions. Second, the chapter introduces economic theories with social implications and social theories to explain how individuals with social advantages through inheritance and early socialisation are more likely to succeed in the long term. Third, this chapter presents how urban natives dominate resources and tend to legitimise their habits, knowledge, skills, and lifestyles. Under the existing social order, migrant households whose habits, knowledge, skills, and lifestyles are considered non-legitimate are deemed inferior in cities. This chapter justifies how migrant households accept and internalise the label of inferiority, allowing the perpetuation of social inequality and (im)mobility. Analytically speaking for theoretical framing, Chapter Three borrows sociological model(s) and concepts to examine the social dynamics of segregation, stigmatisation, and power imbalance between urban natives and rural-to-urban migrants. The chapter also explains the societal mechanisms through which hukou-induced inequalities are perpetuated across generations. To enrich the theoretical framing, we discuss a range of economic and human capital theories, and highlight how hukou status is identified as a key institutional, structural barrier that mediates the conversion of human capital into life chances. This means the hukou system acts as a significant institutional filter that either enables or constrains the returns on human capital investment. To support the overall research aims and objectives of this doctoral research, the economic theories provide the macro-level context for internal migration flows, while the sociological theories and concepts explain the micro- and meso-level social processes that shape lived experiences of inequality. Additional economic and human capital theories explain individual-level returns on education, where hukou is seen as a relevant and overarching institutional constraint. Chapter Four provides all background details related to this empirical research, focusing on the secondary data analysis of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), 2010-14 datasets. Given the lack of academic publications centralising background details about the use of CFPS datasets, Chapter Four is designed as a synthesis of how the CFPS surveys were conducted and how the CFPS data should be used and analysed by researchers. This chapter provides a coherent source of information about the CFPS datasets and presents the methodologies of this doctoral research, explaining the research designs and methods in detail. Chapter Five presents the empirical findings of this doctoral research, involving outputs of Explanatory Factor Analysis (EFA) and both measurement and structural models of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis. While the theoretical framework indicates how the SEM models should be specified, we run an EFA analysis to ensure that the theoretically grounded model specifications are statistically sound. Upon running the EFA, we build longitudinal measurement models of SEM to separately address the relationships between each form of capital (institutional, economic, social, cultural, and political) and its indicators. Datasets from the 2010 baseline survey, the 2012 follow-up survey, and the 2014 follow-up survey are used for this purpose. Institutionally, the research finds that access to urban social services is as strongly associated with institutional capital gains as holding ultimate urban hukou or inheriting urban hukou. Ultimate hukou status refers to the status during the surveys, while inherited hukou status refers to the status at the age of three. We also find that holding ultimate urban hukou is associated with institutional capital gains more than inheriting urban hukou. Economically, we find that working in the non-agricultural/off-farm sector and in more advantageous work units [such as the Government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and state-owned enterprises (SOEs)] are strongly associated with economic capital gains. In addition, being employed is reasonably associated with economic capital gains too. Socially, we find that people recognising the importance and values of (family) social connections are positively associated with social capital gains. Culturally, we find that education level and linguistic proficiency (measured by Mandarin and English proficiency) are strongly associated with cultural capital gains. Politically, we find that CCP membership is very strongly associated with political capital gains. Furthermore, inferential statistics suggest that parental hukou status and parental education levels are positively associated with children’s institutional and cultural capital gains respectively. However, parental political affiliations are not associated with children’s political capital gains. An individual’s ownership of one form of capital is, in most circumstances, positively associated with their ownership of other forms of capital. Therefore, the empirical findings suggest that different types of capital ownership are often intergenerationally reproduced and interconnected. Moreover, we find that inheriting an urban hukou is positively associated with securing more advantageous jobs, achieving higher educational attainment, and holding CCP membership. Therefore, capital ownership appears to be strongly influenced by hukou status inherited from parents. Chapter Six is the conclusion chapter. This conclusion chapter responds to the five research objectives of this doctoral research. This chapter summarises how the ownership of (1) institutional capital, (2) economic capital, (3) social capital, (4) cultural capital, and (5) political capital is intertwined. The chapter concludes that urban inequality in China is (1) hukou-induced, (2) socially constructed, and (3) intergenerationally reproduced. More importantly, this conclusion chapter discusses how economic, social, cultural, political, and especially institutional (or hukou-related) policy interventions should be structured to mitigate such inequality for more sustainable growth in urban China.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Hung, Jason

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ramsden, Mark

• social inequality
• social reproduction
• social mobility
• labour migration
• rural-to-urban migration
• China studies
• economic capital
• social capital
• cultural capital
• human capital
• political capital
• hukou status
• hukou

Licence

• https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/4cc38596-2863-4206-ba2a-a6beef38c76c/download
• http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.123652

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/393248