Introduction

According to official figures published by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there were 252.78 million internal migrant workers in China at the end of 2011— one-third of the country’s labor force. ¹ These workers have contributed to China’s impressive economic growth, helping generate over two trillion U.S. dollars’ worth of exports in 2012. But there is also a less felicitous side to their rise. At the bottom of the Chinese urban hierarchy, migrant workers have formed a new underclass, caught in the urban–rural divide as the country experiences rapid growth and urbanization. While these internal migrants’ cheap labor has fueled urban growth in the last 30 years, their rural residency permits (hukou) prevent them and their children from accessing the social services that urban governments provide to local city dwellers. ² Those services include public education.