Social Policy and Migration in China

This book explores the interactions between social policy and migration in China. Using a theoretical framework of institutional economics, Lida Fan’s discussion examines migration regulations, household registration, social welfare and insurance, employment, education, housing, medical care and industrial strategies with a view to answering the following questions:

• What was/is the role of social policy in migration before and after the reform period?
• What are the impacts of migration on the regional redistribution of human capital as a major source of regional development?
• What are the determinants of interprovincial migration?
• How can we better understand migration related policies using a social justice perspective?
• What migration policy options are available to achieve desired social consequences such as mitigating inequality and improving the well-being of the most disadvantaged peoples?

In posing and answering these questions the book traces the vicissitude of the formation of the household registration system (hukou) and other policies accompanying the hukou system since the beginning of the People’s Republic of China. The author concludes with proposals for institutional change in China’s migration policy, advocating the desirability of social justice perspectives and its feasibility in the current socio-economic structure.

Lida Fan is Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Lakehead University, Canada.