The revisions could strengthen the social safety net for families and potentially boost consumer spending in China’s export-driven economy.
The guidelines encourage governmental bodies and local authorities to offer public services—such as education and essential healthcare—based on individuals’ actual residences instead of their household registration, which is primarily tied to their birthplace.
The household registration system, known as hukou in Chinese, limits access to public services based on where a person is born. Established in the 1950s, the system was designed to restrict internal migration, particularly from rural areas to cities.
Migrant workers with rural hukou from their hometowns frequently encounter difficulties accessing public services in the cities where they reside and work. The government has been attempting to reform this system for over ten years.
GUIDELINES IMPROVE ACCESS TO SCHOOLS AND HOUSING
“Delivering basic public services based on residence, progressively disconnecting these services from household registration, and facilitating equal access to essential public services … are important for fulfilling people’s increasing demands for a higher quality of life,” stated the guidelines from China’s State Council.
The guidelines direct local governments to support more migrant children—those who move to cities with their families—in enrolling in public schools and allow qualified students to take entrance exams at their place of residence.
Additionally, more cities should broaden public rental housing programs to include households with stable jobs but no local hukou, and employees should have the right to join the social insurance programs where they work, according to the guidelines.
Furthermore, the guidelines advocate for easing hukou restrictions in areas like child care, elderly care, and disability assistance, while encouraging provincial governments to increase financial support for regions experiencing population growth to fund public services.
