Rural to Urban migration

Rural to Urban Migration – China’s Hukou system

China’s population has grown to over 1.3 billion people. Most of the population is located on the Eastern seaboard of China where industrial activity has thrived. The number of migrants from rural western areas to the Eastern regions. To ensure structural stability in some regions the Chinese government implicated household registration in 1958. Without this system cities would be overpopulated and agriculture would be virtually abandoned - leaving many to starve without this policy. 

1950’s

·      Hukou system enforced from 1953-1976

·      Limited mass migration from rural to urban

·      Ensured enough labour for state run businesses

·      Police would round up those without proper registration and deport them to rural areas

·      People were not allowed to have a job without a permit

1960’s

·      The Great Leap Forward caused famine among rural residents, many fled to urban areas where food was rationed. Rural Hukou residents often starved to provide for the country and high taxes meant there was little money left to pay for food. From this over 30 million perished between 1958-1962; 95% of these were rural Hukou residents. This showed how different Hukou’s could affect people.

·      In the late 1960’s the ‘back to the village’ movement shifted 20 million from urban areas to rural areas.

1970’s

·      Increased industrialisation led to rapid urbanisation

Impact of Rural-Urban Migration

·      Loss of agricultural land

·      Strain of housing, public utilities and transport

·      Many illegal Hukou residents were unable to gain access to services such as education and many lived in slums

·      Over supply of labour (5.2 million are unemployed in the major cities)

·      Environmental concerns and planning concerns to accommodate the influx of migrants

Causes

·      Scarcity of productive land

·      Rising cost of agriculture

·      Over supply of farm labour (100 million surplus)

·      Government policy – between 2002-2007 300 million were planned to move to 10,000 new towns

·      Pay is more attractive e.g. average income per year is $5000 in Sichuan (rural) and in Shanghai it is between $15000-27000 per year