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.
Author
Jensen, Birgitte Egeskov
Term
4. term
Publication year
2016
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan den institutionelle logik i Kinas hukou-registreringssystem påvirker velfærdsstatens udvikling og social sammenhængskraft. Studiet anvender en blandet metode med kvantitative data fra World Values Survey (Kina 2001, 2007, 2012; Finland 2005; Sverige 2006; Norge 2007) og International Social Survey Programme (Kina, Finland, Sverige, Norge, Danmark 2009), suppleret af et kvalitativt interview-spørgeskema besvaret af otte kinesiske deltagere. På trods af markante fremskridt i fattigdomsreduktion og udbygning af velfærdsordninger fortsætter hukou med at adskille velfærden på tværs af land og by. Analysen viser, at systemet har skabt to velfærdsregimer: et omfattende og progressivt bysystem og et magert, regressivt landsystem, samt et iboende “take-up”-problem, hvor landboere ikke bruger ydelser, de er berettiget til, mens byboere modtager bedre service. Den sociale sammenhængskraft svækkes af en hukou-forankret eksklusion: land-by skellet overtrumfer almindelige vurderinger af, hvem der fortjener ydelser, begrænser sociale rettigheder og handlefrihed for indehavere af land-hukou og hæmmer kapabilitetsudvikling for migrantarbejdere og deres børn gennem begrænset adgang til uddannelse og sundhed i byerne. Afhandlingen konkluderer, at mere inkluderende velfærd og styrket sammenhængskraft kræver udligning af kapabiliteter og en reel afskaffelse af hukou, samtidig med at reformens lange og komplekse karakter anerkendes.
This thesis examines how the institutional logic of China’s hukou household registration system shapes welfare-state development and social cohesion. Using a mixed-method design, it analyzes survey data from the World Values Survey (China 2001, 2007, 2012; Finland 2005; Sweden 2006; Norway 2007) and the International Social Survey Programme (China, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark 2009), complemented by a qualitative interview-questionnaire completed by eight Chinese respondents. Despite major gains in poverty reduction and the expansion of social programs, hukou continues to segregate welfare along rural–urban lines. The analysis finds that hukou has fostered two welfare regimes: comprehensive and progressive provision in urban China and meagre, regressive provision in rural China, alongside an inherent take-up problem in which rural residents underclaim entitled benefits while urban residents receive better services. Social cohesion is weakened by hukou-embedded exclusion: the rural–urban divide eclipses common deservingness heuristics, restricts social rights and agency for rural hukou holders, and constrains capability development for migrant workers and their children through limited access to education and healthcare in cities. The thesis argues that inclusive welfare and stronger social cohesion require equalizing capabilities and genuinely abolishing hukou registration, while recognizing that reform will be long and complex given the system’s byzantine design and fragmented welfare landscape.
[This summary has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project (PDF)]
Keywords
Documents
Other projects by the authors