The impact of Chinese Hukou reforms on migrant students' cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes

Abstract

The Chinese Hukou system, a major tool for social control employed by the government, has undergone various fundamental reforms and has received increasing attention in recent years. This study investigates the relationship between Hukou policy innovations and migrant children's cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes, which are vital to the lifetime development of individuals. On the basis of 2654 children holding non-local Hukou from the 2013–2014 wave of the China Education Panel Survey, the results show that migrant students who expect to have fair access to local senior high schools have significantly higher test scores and higher educational aspirations than their counterparts. The expectation of attending a local senior high school improves migrant students' relationship with teachers and the social acclimation with classmates. These findings carry policy implications for addressing migrant children's educational challenges and shed light on China's reform of its Hukou system to achieve social justice and equality.