Hukou and Urban-Rural Educational Inequality: Who Are Left Out?

Abstract

This paper examines how Hukou type and years of education affected urban-rural divide in China after 2016. Using statistics from the 2016 China Family Panel Survey and the 2020 China Statistical Yearbook, five alternative dimensions of the relationship are identified: Age, gender, parents' years of education, regional education expenditure, and siblings. Assisted by regression models, the report compares the extent of each factor's influence on educational attainment with Hukou type. In addition, this paper builds on previous findings of similar work by considering some important macroeconomic changes after 2016, including the Hukou reform and the abolition of the one-child policy in 2016. The study concludes that educational participation in China was primarily dependent on the location (whether rural or urban) where individuals lived and participated in compulsory education. This indicates that the Hukou system entails a significant degree of discrimination and division. It is an institutional barrier to educational opportunities and resources for certain groups (i.e. rural Hukou holders).