ABSTRACT
The tremendous abundance of labor in rural areas is one of the most perplexing issues currently facing the policymakers in the People’s Republic of China. The hukou system and other restrictive policies toward rural-urban migrants influence the efficiency of human capital in China’s economy. In China’s rural areas, the number of surplus laborers amounted to 130 million in 2002. The chapter discusses the driving forces and barriers of rural-urban migration and examines the characteristics of rural migrants based on a survey conducted in Tianjin, China. Using the survey data, it aims to understand the social and economic characteristics of rural-urban migration in China. The widening rural-urban disparities are another factor of the increasing rural-urban migration. Several institutional and social barriers have made the rural-urban migration difficult. The chapter discusses economic characteristics of migrant workers regarding their employment, income, welfare conditions, and education.
