page_title: Hukou
section_title: Effect on rural population
hierarchical_section_title: Hukou / Household registration in mainland China / Effect on rural population
caption_attribution_description: English: Elevated Sports Field of en:Beijing No. 8 High School 中文: zh:北京八中的高架操场。
context_page_description: Hukou is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "huji", and has origins in ancient China; hukou is the registration of an individual in the system. A household registration record officially identifies a person as a permanent resident of an area and includes identifying information such as name, parents, spouse and date of birth. A hukou can also refer to a family register in many contexts since the household register is issued per family, and usually includes the births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and moves, of all members in the family.
  The system descends in part from ancient Chinese household registration systems. The hukou system also influenced similar systems in neighboring East Asian countries—such as one within the public administration structures of Japan and Korea, as well as Vietnam. In South Korea, the hoju system was abolished in January 2008. While unrelated in origin, propiska in the Soviet Union and resident registration in Russia had a similar purpose and served as a model for modern China's hukou system.
context_section_description: Under the hukou system implemented by the central government in 1958, while holders of the non-agricultural hukou status were given ration cards for everyday necessities, including food and textiles, rural residents were forced to produce everything themselves. Whereas the state provided housing in the city, individuals had to construct their own homes.  The state invested in education, arranged employment, and provided retirement benefits for city residents, and provided none of these services for their rural citizens.  These disparities have left the rural populace highly disadvantaged, and tragedies such as the famine of the Great Leap Forward primarily ravaged rural Chinese citizens.
caption: While the government invests heavily in education in the cities, little to no investment in rural education occurs
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