The Migration and Urbanization Dilemma in China

Migration in China
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Institution
Migration in China
Due to extreme rural-urban migration from the recent decades, rapid urbanization has taken place in China. The rates of migration have increased rapidly with long-term migration being the main trait. In China, migration characteristics are decided by personal decisions and joint decisions within households which agree sending their members that own comparative advantages in service and manufacturing, mainly young and male, to go to cities and work. Major destinations are big cities and coastal regions characterized by developed service and manufacturing activities. Migration in China is driven mainly by the aspiration to have higher incomes and acquire job opportunities that are better. Moreover, urban amenities and public services account partly in the flow of China’s population. However, there exist institutional barriers, such as hukou system and the segmentations in labor markets in urban areas, public services and social services which act as a hindrance inter-regional and rural-urban migration (Chan, 2012).
China’s population has witnessed urbanization rapidly in the recent 30 years of economic breakneck. During that period, the population in urban areas has increased from 26% to 56% and currently, it is estimated that more than 200 million migrants are working in China’s biggest cities. Many urban migrants move there with an aim of working for one to two decades and later return to their homes. This is motivated by the hukou system which s household registration system in China. The system links individual’s right to receive state welfare with the places that they were born. This means that, people can access state-subsidized government assistance such as healthcare and education only in the provinces that are their homes. In case they move to other places, they should either transfer the hukou or pay premiums in order to access the services. A majority of individuals are unable and unwilling to change their hukou and therefore end up being burdened with the urban residence status and costs of living which are inflated. Therefore, their plan is to save and eventually leave the city and go back to their birth land.
Since China is termed as developing nation, it is characterized by shortage of land for farming and farming practices have been labor intensive. From the year 2011, the share of workforce in agriculture decreased steadily, therefore a majority of labor force in China (36%) is employed in the service industry ( Statista, 2016). The construction sector also plays a major impact in changes in population in rural and urban areas in relation to people that are employed in the agriculture sector. Migration relating to labor is linked to disparities in incomes and wages in the country. The country sides of Chin are characterized by insufficient employments which are not gainful to people therefore, rural workers leave countryside. They move across different counties and provinces in order to make monetary gains from employment through being employed as casual workers or self-employment. A big percentage of people in the rural areas migrate to towns that are near them and a small percentage migrate to bigger cities that are on the coast. In China, hukou migration is considered as he official type of migration and the migrants are eligible to social rights and benefits which the local residents receive. Another type of migration is the floating migration, which means temporary movement of a person to a destination they are not supposed to. The individual is not entitled legally to stay in the area permanently.
Interprovincial migration in China indicates changes in the economy, mostly in the supply and demand of unskilled labor. Areas like Guangdong are destination of most of the migrants during the period between the years 1990-2005. The total migration of this province accounted for a huge fraction (one-third) of China’s interprovincial migration during the period. Studies related to interprovincial migration in China have stated that economic disparities in regions has greatly contributed to an increase in number of population moving for long distances in China. China has continued to experience a continuing increase in interprovincial disparities without consideration of the increased geographical mobility of China’s population ( Statista, 2016).
From the figures of China’s last census in 2010, there was an indication in the history of the country, the first time more people live in the cities as compared to those in the countryside. For instance, in the year 1950, 64 million lived in cities while the number rose to 636 million in 2010. To explain the phenomenon of internal migration in China, it is important to explain the history of migration in China. Firstly, in the early 1978, era reforms were instituted by Deng Xiaoping and movement to cities from rural areas became the root for economic growth, industrialization and urbanization. This was due to the movement of labor to places of high productivity from places of low productivity. Later, the disappearance of communal farming system disappeared and people were free to cultivate their own pieces of land. This led to the realization that rural areas had huge populations hence competition to the available limited jobs. Therefore, people began to migrate to cities to search for job opportunities. By the year 1990, 221 million lived in cities; the number rose to 523 million in 2003 and predictions show that the numbers could reach 854 million by the year 2020 (UN,2006).
After the exponential growth in China’s internal migration, floating population was coined. This includes migrants without certificates if residence and who work and live in other areas they have not been registered originally. Therefore, authorities don’t consider migrants as being the same with the residents living in urban areas. The aim of this system is to manipulate populations in the countryside which is somehow considered inferior for to sustain any need that may arise in terms of workforce in industrialization and growth of economy in China. The migrants who move to cities are further categorized in either legal or illegal migrants. The legal migrants are known by the local authorities and possess a hukou that is valid. Moreover, individuals in this category were able to change their residence in the years 1960-1980. On the other hand, illegal migrants exist in subgroups of the rural migrants. This category includes individuals that have rural hukou and have migrated to cities on either seasonal, long term or permanent level.
The hukou system is China’s family registration system conceived with the aim to protect the activities of the economy and maintain capital intensity that will aid in the process of industrialization in the cities of China. In the early stages of this system, it was concluded by the central government that there was importance in limiting urban population growth thus, holding the percentage of urban population as a fifth of the total population in the next twenty years. The policy resulted to an economy that was planned due to the fact that the local functionaries had were led by the objective of developing all economic plans in accordance with the number of inhabitants that were officially registered. In early 2000, migration to cities became widespread with a great possibility of growth in the future. Later, economic plan ended and the central government reduced funds it was releasing to the local officials hence leading to jealously among residents on resources. This enhanced hatred towards the migrants.
By the end of 2014, the population of individuals migrating to cities reached 253 million with major destination in the Southeastern coast. These areas are characterized by favorable government policies and direct foreign investments such as, special economic zones that are in Zhuhai and Shenzhen. Data collected in 2009 by the National Agency of Statistics indicate that the modern form of migrants in China enjoy better education and their rights though, they are more demanding and are not inclined to any form of compromise. The data collected also shows that 40% of the individuals migrating were between ages 16-25, another 40% between 26-40 years and the other 20% were above the age of 40. Moreover, men counted to be 65% of the migrants though the number changed in some areas with migrant women being more than men. During interviews, 65% of the migrants had studied up to high school level, 23.5% had taken courses that were specialized, 10.6% did not pass elementary education levels and 1% of the population was illiterate (UN, 2006).
Chinese migrants are mainly employed in construction and manufacturing sectors (7.3% and 39% respectively), 12% in the field of service, 8% in catering and hotels and 6% i...