The Hukou System – an Institutional Logic of Welfare Segregation: A mixed method analysis of the impact of the hukou system on welfare state development and social cohesion in China.

Jensen, Birgitte Egeskov

4. term

Development and International Relations, Master

2016

2016-08-01

66

Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan hukou-systemets institutionelle logik (et husstandsregistreringssystem, der knytter sociale ydelser til den lokale bopælsregistrering) har påvirket velfærdsstatens udvikling og den sociale sammenhængskraft i Kina. Analysen bygger på en blandet metode: kvantitative data fra World Values Survey for Kina (2001, 2007, 2012) samt Finland (2005), Sverige (2006) og Norge (2007), og fra International Social Survey Programme i 2009 for Kina, Finland, Sverige, Norge og Danmark. For at uddybe og nuancere de kvantitative fund blev et spørgeskema med åbne spørgsmål udfyldt af otte personer, der alle er opvokset i Kina; svarene er kvalitativt analyseret og knyttet til afhandlingens teoretiske ramme. Kina har i de seneste årtier løftet omkring 500–600 millioner mennesker ud af fattigdom og udvidet velfærdens dækning og generøsitet. Alligevel består hukou-systemet og skaber fortsat velfærdssegregering: Nogle elementer er lempet, men personer uden lokal hukou har stadig begrænset adgang til ydelser, og billedet af fattigere land og rigere by er uændret. Resultaterne viser, at hukou-systemet har fremmet to adskilte velfærdssystemer: I byerne er velfærden mere progressiv og omfattende, mens den på landet er mere regressiv og sparsom. Der ses også et udtalt “take-up”-problem, hvor landboere ofte ikke gør krav på ydelser, de formelt har ret til, mens byboere modtager bedre service. Den sociale sammenhængskraft er begrænset, fordi social eksklusion er indlejret i hukou: Skellet mellem land og by overtrumfer almindelige tommelfingerregler om, hvem der “fortjener” velfærd, og rammer særligt land–by-migrantarbejdere. For indehavere af land-hukou er sociale rettigheder og handlefrihed (muligheden for at forfølge ønskede mål) indskrænkede, og deres udvikling af capabilities – reelle muligheder for at opnå værdsatte resultater – hæmmes af diskrimination og ved, at migranter og deres børn nægtes adgang til offentlige goder som uddannelse og sundhed i byerne. For at skabe inkluderende velfærd og større social sammenhæng kræves udligning af capabilities og en reel afskaffelse af hukou-registreringen. På grund af systemets byzantinske kompleksitet og en fragmenteret velfærdsforvaltning må det dog forventes, at en sådan reform bliver lang og kompliceret.

This thesis examines how the institutional logic of China’s hukou system—the household registration system that ties access to public services to one’s registered locality—has shaped welfare state development and social cohesion. The study uses a mixed-methods design: quantitative analyses of World Values Survey data for China (2001, 2007, 2012) and for Finland (2005), Sweden (2006), and Norway (2007), together with the 2009 International Social Survey Programme for China, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. To deepen and interpret the quantitative findings, an open-ended interview-style questionnaire was completed by eight adults who grew up in China; their responses were qualitatively analyzed and linked to the thesis’s theoretical framework. In recent decades China has lifted roughly 500–600 million people out of poverty and expanded welfare coverage and generosity. Yet the hukou system persists and continues to segregate welfare: some elements have been relaxed, but non-local hukou holders still face limited access to benefits, and the pattern of poorer rural and richer urban populations remains. The analysis shows that hukou has produced two distinct welfare regimes: urban welfare is more progressive and comprehensive, while rural welfare is more regressive and sparse. There is also a pronounced “take-up” problem, with rural residents often not claiming entitlements, while urban residents receive better services. Social cohesion is constrained because social exclusion is embedded in hukou: the rural–urban divide overrides common “deservingness” heuristics—rules of thumb about who deserves support—especially disadvantaging rural-to-urban migrant workers. For rural hukou holders, social rights and agency (freedom to pursue goals) are curtailed, and capability development—the real opportunities to achieve valued outcomes—is limited by discrimination and by denying migrant workers and their children access to public education and healthcare in cities. Building inclusive welfare and stronger social cohesion requires equalizing capabilities and genuinely abolishing the hukou registration system. Given the system’s byzantine complexity and China’s fragmented welfare administration, such reform will be lengthy and difficult.

[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]

Hukou ; rural-urban ; China ; Welfare development ; Social Cohesion

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Jensen, Birgitte Egeskov:

• The Hukou System – an Institutional Logic of Welfare Segregation. A mixed method analysis of the impact of the hukou system on welfare state development and social cohesion in China. (2016)