Social exclusion of rural-urban migrants in transitional China

Most previous studies of China's transitional period have focused on the state's continuing role in restructuring the social classes, and how the former elite classes in state socialist China maintain their privileged position during the market transition. This study emphasizes the increasing importance of market forces in initiating and stabilizing social inequality, and the way that the market force affects institutional reforms in transitional China. -- Rural-urban migrants in China are the subject of this research project. One of the most important groups of contributors to China's recent three decades of economic growth, they are confronted with multi-dimensional social exclusion in urban society. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, the project examines five aspects of rural-urban migrants' social exclusion: the household registration system (hukou), employment opportunities, welfare entitlements, identity and settlement. The aspects of employment, welfare, identity and settlement have been highly associated with the hukou system. The project examines how those four aspects are detaching from the hukou system, thus demonstrating the increasing importance of market forces in the social exclusion of rural-urban migrants during this transitional period. -- This study presents two major findings. First, the trends of decentralization and marketization are important forces reforming the hukou and welfare systems. As local governments are more market- and economy-driven, the implementation of public policy centres on local economic interests. This is the major reason for the institutional exclusion of rural-urban migrants from welfare system. Second, market forces play an increasingly important role in resource redistribution, which was formerly the responsibility of government. These findings call for increasing reform to centralised public policy, with the state to take major responsibility in coordinating and enforcing a united labour market and social welfare system.