Hukou System

1. Hukou System 户口

2. Hukou(户口) System • Hukou System is only used in China, Korea and Japan. • Hukou System defines where each person is supposed to live. • Living in another city you are not supposed to live could be very inconvenient, e.g. paying much more on children’s education. • A person’s Hukou was decided when he’s born – he has the same Hukou as his mother. When he grows up, he could change his Hukou by working for certain public enterprises in another place. • Every person has a “Hukou book” to prove his Hukou.

3. Two Kinds of Hukou • The Hukou System also defines two kinds of different Hukou: rural Hukou and city Hukou. • People who have city Hukou have allowances such as health insurance, while people who have rural area can be assigned some soil they can grow crops on, but they don’t have any other allowances or advantages.

4. Hukou(户口) System • The origin of Hukou System: In Qing Dynasty, quotas of how many people could pass the “imperial examinations” were assigned to different areas. Suzhou city was rich and paid more taxes then other places, so it got more quotas. Some people then went to Suzhou to take the exams, which was unfair for Suzhou people. The first Hukou System was then created, which recorded where people were from. Only people whose family had lived in Suzhou for 3 generations could take the exams in Suzhou.

5. Hukou(户口) System Starts to Change • In recent years, this strict system starts to change and becomes less strict. • It’s not difficult now for people who are highly-educated and skilled to live in a place where they don’t have Hukou. • In 2007, the government launched an experiment in 12 provinces which will eventually lead to elimination of rural Hukou.