What is Hukou?
'''''Hukou''''' is a system of [[household]] [[registration]] used in mainland [[People's Republic of China|China]]. It officially identifies a person as a permanent [[resident]] of a place. It has information about name, parents, [[spouse]] and date of birth. A ''hukou'' can also refer to a family register. The household register is for a family, and usually includes the births, deaths, marriages, [[Divorce|divorces]], and moves, of all the people in the family. A person's residence is tied to their place of birth or their parent's place of birth. Hukou registration limits the types of jobs a person can do in a city and the types of housing they are able to stay in. The government gives people benefits based on [[Farming|agricultural]] and non-agricultural residency status (often called [[Rural area|rural]] and [[Urban area|urban]]). Urban residents got [[retirement]] [[pension]]<nowiki/>s, education and [[health care]], while rural people got none of those things. They had to build their own homes and grow their own food. [[Migration]] inside China was controlled by the [[government]]. It was difficult to move from the country into a city. People who moved without permission had to work in very bad conditions as they had no rights.<ref>{{Cite book|title=China's hukou system : markets, migrants and institutional change|author=Young, Jason|date=3 June 2013|isbn=9781137277305|location=Basingstoke|chapter=2|oclc=847140377}}</ref> After 1978 controls were not so strict. Migrant workers could get [[temporary]] residency [[Permit|permits]], but they generally got worse jobs and get less money. They often had to leave their children behind in the rural area. If the children came to the city they may not be able to go to public schools or colleges. By 2016, the government had given urban hukou to about 28.9 million rural migrants. <ref>{{Cite web|last=Sheehan|first=Spencer|title=China’s Hukou Reforms and the Urbanization Challenge|url=https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/chinas-hukou-reforms-and-the-urbanization