A Study On The Reform Of China's Household Registration System From The Perspective Of Poverty Of Right Theory

The household registration management is one of the most fundamental administrative management in China, and the core of the current household registration system in our country is the Regulations on Household Registration in the People's Republic of China which was promulgated by the State Council in January 1958 and played a very important role in many fields, such as maintaining social stability, combating crime, consolidating the socialist regime, managing the population and serving the national economic construction. Unfortunately, with the development of market economy and the deepening in system reform, the management system of household registration, which rooted in the planned economy, cannot adapt China's economic and social development any longer. The basic functions of household registration system are to proof citizenship and family kinship, to count the population data and to serve the national macro control. However, China's current household registration system legally divides our citizens into rural and urban populations, thus the urban-rural dual social structure is formed artificially. What's more, the distribution mechanisms and methods of social resources and interests are attached to this household registration system. To the urban residents, the household registration system means the privileges. And to the rural residents and migrant workers who run into the city to work, it means the deprivation of rights. At present, a great number of rural labor force flows into cities to seek temporary work. Though they have made great contributions to the development of economy and the prosperity of cities, they cannot really merge into the city and cannot share the city resources equally with the city inhabitants due to the hedge of household registration system. The national economy has developed dramatically and the society has progressed rapidly, however, this trend is not consistent with the phenomenon of the decline of rural areas and the poverty of farmers. Since the CPC Central Committee has proposed the concept of scientific development and building a socialist harmonious society, the basic rights of vast number of migrant workers in cities, which are rejected, are drawing more and more attention from the society.In this context, the writer targets on the migrant workers in cities and makes a study on the relationship between the irrational arrangement of household registration system and the poverty of migrant workers from the perspective of poverty of right theory which was created by the American Indian scholar Amartya Sen. According to Amartya Sen's theory, poverty of right refers to hard life which comes from unreasonable system,because some very important rights of some people will be deprivated by unreasonable system,for instance, politics, economic, cultural, physical. This thesis believes that China's current household registration system has been adhered by distribution mechanisms and methods of social resources and interests. This arrangement excludes migrant workers from the city life, and it's one of the main reasons which cause the urban-rural dual society structure. It is believed that in order to reform the household registration system radically, the attached interest factors of household registration system must be striped so as to make the benefit allocation of citizens' employment, education, homeownership, social welfare and social insurance break away from the household registration system, to make urban residents and the rural residents share the equal social rights and weaken the interest distribution functions of household registration system and to make the functions of the household registration system have a rational regression.This thesis consists of five parts. Part one makes an introduction of the present research background, and then it states the rational for the study and the content of the study. Part two provides a theoretical foundation for the present study. First, it gives a definition of the poverty of right. Then it reviews the previous researches on poverty of right theory at home and abroad and makes some comments and points the shortcomings of poverty of right theory. That is to say:sufficient attention should be given to relative poverty while we concern about absolute poverty. Relative poverty is not just the income gap,but also that different groups have unequal political rights or social rights. Next, it discusses the intrinsic relationship between system and poverty based on the incidence of poverty theory and the reason why system leading to the causes of poverty:1. System is of national will and national mandatory,and national mandatory is the protection.2. System contains various interests.3. System provides for people's behavior patterns. Finally, it puts forward hypothesis on study of the poverty of right. Part three, based on the theoretical foundation of part two, introduces household registration system. Firstly, it reviews the reform history and reasons of the household registration system since the founding of New China, and then it analyzes the manifestations and causes of poverty of right of migrant workers which are caused by our country's household registration system.It is believed that household registration system causes unequel educational opportunities, employment opportunities, social security, housing and housing rights and the rights of other aspects between residents of urban household and rural household registration. And part four analyzes momentum factors and resistance factors of China's current household registration system reform from various aspects and provides intellectual support of the reform of China's household registration system which will pursue interests and avoid risks,and the author believes that :awakening and strengthening of civil rights awareness, the development of socialist market economy, the central government's strong macro-control ability are the power of household registration system reform. Part five is the focus of this study; it discusses the strategy choices of the China's household registration system reform. In this part it first analyzes the value of the reform of China's household registration system and it points out that equality of the citizens'right is the value demands of our country's household registration system, and then it explores the choices of strategies of China's household registration system reform. The author believes that the direction of China's household registration system reform is to unify the household registration system throughout the country and to strip the attached allocation mechanism of social resources and interests off the household registration system is a necessary way to China's household registration system reform. And on this basis the author puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions of China's household registration system reform.