My parents both grew up in poverty in rural villages, the Hukou system prevented people from leaving Taishan to seek better income, until Deng Xiaoping’s Opening Up and Reforms. Even then, jobs have much longer hours and minimal break time. I never really got to see my parents much, they just left my brother and I at home, just the two of us alone, so we end up fighting a lot. That was what “child care” was. At least until I was even old enough to be enrolled in pre-school and primary school.
Because I was the 2nd child, I didn’t get legal recognition of my existence until my parent paid the government’s demand of a large payment (aka: a "fine) for not having a government permission slip for childbirth, which is like wtf, why is that the government’s bussiness?!?
And because we didn’t have Hukou in Guangzhou, they didn’t let us be in public schools, my parents had to pay for those privately run “school” which have a lower quality of education.
When my family (legally) immigrated to the US, at first, the work wasn’t that much better, but eventually they managed to save up and buy a house, and eventually found better income, much better than any of the work they could find in China.
Of course, western countries has its own problems, such as xenophobia and racism, but for the most part, for most people, including many of my parents friends and relative who left China, life is generally better abroad compared to staying in China.
Depending on your circumstances of course, if you are a scientist, maybe its would be best for you to stay, but most of us aren’t scientists, don’t have much opportunity for income in China.
life is generally better abroad compared to staying in China.
Do you expect this to be true for the coming years?
My impression was that migrant workers don’t earn enough to own a car but that cities are build for that so that overall quality of life, especially when it comes to healthcare services, starts to be better in China.
No I do not expect the US to remain what it used to be. But non-US western countries would probably still be prosperous for a while, but I cannot predict anything beyond like 10 years, it all depends.
The future seems bright in EU, but unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to get a visa there. Its much harder to get into good places like the EU.
healthcare services, starts to be better in China
Perhaps its getting better, but currently its still effectively the equivalent of US’s obamacare. Prior to coming to the US in 2010s (remember, the US was like much better back then, so the decision to immigrate was based on the circumstances at that time), my family has Hukou in Taishan which was rural. I was born in Guangzhou, but my Hukou is still in Taishan, I wasn’t even allowed to attend public school in Guangzhou, and whatever healthcare system they have, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy those benefits, since my Hukou wasn’t in Guangzhou. And Taishan is just even more fucked, zero job opportunities in rural areas other than the farmland, which sucks, so many bugs trying to bite you on the farms. Public school in Taishan has much lower funding and way worse quality of education than Guangzhou.
I mean, maybe if my family had a Guangzhou Hukou, things would’ve been better, but we didn’t. Transfering to Guangzhou Hukou was impossible, Guangzhou didn’t allow it at the time. Even US’s citizenship process is much easier.
So, for me its not just China vs US, its more like Taishan Hukou vs US Citizenship. I can’t speak for the future of the US, things do seem very bleak in terms of politics, but for now, US seems less shitty compared to being in China with a rural Hukou.
And when it comes to healthcare, good luck if you have depression, nobody takes depression seriously, and I’m not even saying its the government’s fault, but society literally downplays how serious depression is, everyone would just call you lazy. At least some westerners actually try to understand my depression.
I’m not an expert, so I don’t really have an answer to this. But I dislike the concept of using a system that attempts to restrict movements and rights, and tries to prevent people from seeking better economic opportunities, I think its unethnical. It sort of reminds me of anti-immigration sentinments in western countries. Except that in this case, this Hukou thing is even weirder, like wtf, aren’t we supposed to be part of the same country? Like?!? I am literally a citizen* of the country, why can’t I move somewhere else that’s better? Imagine you’re from rural Alamaba and you can’t go to California, and even if they eventually allow it, you can’t get California’s healthcare despite living and working there, and you can’t go to California’s public schools. Like wtf, imagine this bs in your country.
(*was a citizen, I no longer have PRC Citizenship after moving abroad and gaining another citizenship.)
Besides…
After Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, which included relaxing the restrictions on internal migration, the China’s economy only grew stronger, less people were in poverty, so that’s proof that these weird Hukou restrictions are totally unnecessary on the development of the country.
For comparison, the EU also doesn’t allow new members free movement. Only if their economy is strong enough that the people don’t flee the country, the restrictions are lifted.
EU members are still sovereign, they can leave whenever (not saying that its a good idea to leave, but the option exists), Provinces of China are not sovereign, they can never leave. So the Hukou + No Sovereignty is just combining the worst of both worlds.
Provinces struggle to even keep their local languages, those in Beijing are trying to force Mandarin in schools all across the country, including Guangdong, and bans Cantonese from being spoken in schools, and are forcing cultural assimulation, and trying to eradicate Cantonese culture. I’m not against learning a new language, but forcing an outside language to take priority over a local language is ridiculous. They should be using both Cantonese and Mandarin in Guangzhou’s schools, and should not prioritize the Northerner’s dialect (aka: “Mandarin”). The Cantonese language is dying, and its sad to see this.
Afaik, EU countries generally maintain their language and cultural identity.
My parents both grew up in poverty in rural villages, the Hukou system prevented people from leaving Taishan to seek better income, until Deng Xiaoping’s Opening Up and Reforms. Even then, jobs have much longer hours and minimal break time. I never really got to see my parents much, they just left my brother and I at home, just the two of us alone, so we end up fighting a lot. That was what “child care” was. At least until I was even old enough to be enrolled in pre-school and primary school.
Because I was the 2nd child, I didn’t get legal recognition of my existence until my parent paid the government’s demand of a large payment (aka: a "fine) for not having a government permission slip for childbirth, which is like wtf, why is that the government’s bussiness?!?
And because we didn’t have Hukou in Guangzhou, they didn’t let us be in public schools, my parents had to pay for those privately run “school” which have a lower quality of education.
When my family (legally) immigrated to the US, at first, the work wasn’t that much better, but eventually they managed to save up and buy a house, and eventually found better income, much better than any of the work they could find in China.
Of course, western countries has its own problems, such as xenophobia and racism, but for the most part, for most people, including many of my parents friends and relative who left China, life is generally better abroad compared to staying in China.
Depending on your circumstances of course, if you are a scientist, maybe its would be best for you to stay, but most of us aren’t scientists, don’t have much opportunity for income in China.
Do you expect this to be true for the coming years?
My impression was that migrant workers don’t earn enough to own a car but that cities are build for that so that overall quality of life, especially when it comes to healthcare services, starts to be better in China.
No I do not expect the US to remain what it used to be. But non-US western countries would probably still be prosperous for a while, but I cannot predict anything beyond like 10 years, it all depends.
The future seems bright in EU, but unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to get a visa there. Its much harder to get into good places like the EU.
Perhaps its getting better, but currently its still effectively the equivalent of US’s obamacare. Prior to coming to the US in 2010s (remember, the US was like much better back then, so the decision to immigrate was based on the circumstances at that time), my family has Hukou in Taishan which was rural. I was born in Guangzhou, but my Hukou is still in Taishan, I wasn’t even allowed to attend public school in Guangzhou, and whatever healthcare system they have, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy those benefits, since my Hukou wasn’t in Guangzhou. And Taishan is just even more fucked, zero job opportunities in rural areas other than the farmland, which sucks, so many bugs trying to bite you on the farms. Public school in Taishan has much lower funding and way worse quality of education than Guangzhou.
I mean, maybe if my family had a Guangzhou Hukou, things would’ve been better, but we didn’t. Transfering to Guangzhou Hukou was impossible, Guangzhou didn’t allow it at the time. Even US’s citizenship process is much easier.
So, for me its not just China vs US, its more like Taishan Hukou vs US Citizenship. I can’t speak for the future of the US, things do seem very bleak in terms of politics, but for now, US seems less shitty compared to being in China with a rural Hukou.
And when it comes to healthcare, good luck if you have depression, nobody takes depression seriously, and I’m not even saying its the government’s fault, but society literally downplays how serious depression is, everyone would just call you lazy. At least some westerners actually try to understand my depression.
Thanks.
Do you think China could have managed to transform without the Hukou system? How would you have done it?
I’m not an expert, so I don’t really have an answer to this. But I dislike the concept of using a system that attempts to restrict movements and rights, and tries to prevent people from seeking better economic opportunities, I think its unethnical. It sort of reminds me of anti-immigration sentinments in western countries. Except that in this case, this Hukou thing is even weirder, like wtf, aren’t we supposed to be part of the same country? Like?!? I am literally a citizen* of the country, why can’t I move somewhere else that’s better? Imagine you’re from rural Alamaba and you can’t go to California, and even if they eventually allow it, you can’t get California’s healthcare despite living and working there, and you can’t go to California’s public schools. Like wtf, imagine this bs in your country.
(*was a citizen, I no longer have PRC Citizenship after moving abroad and gaining another citizenship.)
Besides…
After Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, which included relaxing the restrictions on internal migration, the China’s economy only grew stronger, less people were in poverty, so that’s proof that these weird Hukou restrictions are totally unnecessary on the development of the country.
For comparison, the EU also doesn’t allow new members free movement. Only if their economy is strong enough that the people don’t flee the country, the restrictions are lifted.
EU members are still sovereign, they can leave whenever (not saying that its a good idea to leave, but the option exists), Provinces of China are not sovereign, they can never leave. So the Hukou + No Sovereignty is just combining the worst of both worlds.
Provinces struggle to even keep their local languages, those in Beijing are trying to force Mandarin in schools all across the country, including Guangdong, and bans Cantonese from being spoken in schools, and are forcing cultural assimulation, and trying to eradicate Cantonese culture. I’m not against learning a new language, but forcing an outside language to take priority over a local language is ridiculous. They should be using both Cantonese and Mandarin in Guangzhou’s schools, and should not prioritize the Northerner’s dialect (aka: “Mandarin”). The Cantonese language is dying, and its sad to see this.
Afaik, EU countries generally maintain their language and cultural identity.