Does The Residence Permit System Improve The Treatment Of The Floating Population?

Throughout China's social and economic development,one of the aspects that can not be ignored is the emergence and growing of the floating population.The total number of the floating population in China reached 236 million in 2019.However,under China's Hukou system,the floating population only complete the movement in geographical space,but does not achieve the simultaneous transfer of welfare benefits,which is excluded from the public service system in the inflow.The introduction of the residence permit system is aimed at bridging the gap and protecting the social rights and interests of the floating population.Since the implementation of "The Provisional Regulations on Residence Permits" in 2016,China has established a floating population management system with residence permits as the main body.What role does the residence permit system play in the floating population's access to urban public services?Has it promoted the treatment of the floating population?So,based on the theory of social rights,this paper takes Jinan as an example,using text analysis,semi-structured interviews and statistical analysis methods.It analyzes the impact of residence permit on the treatment of floating population from the perspective of policy design and implementation,especially in the three public service areas of housing security,public health and compulsory education,so as to grasp the operation logic of the residence permit system and give full play to the role of residence permit system.The study found that the residence permit system is not a perfect system,and in reality the role of residence permit in the treatment of floating population is very limited.The significance of the residence permit system lies in reshaping the distribution of social welfare,deconstructing the only connection between Hukou system and citizen treatment and opening up another way for the floating population to obtain the citizen treatment.However,it also causes problems such as internal stratification of the floating population and marginalization of its benefits.In addition,in the three public service areas of housing security,public health and compulsory education,although the role of residence permit may vary,there are some other factors in each area to eliminate the effect of residence permit in improving the floating population's treatment.In other words,unlike the Hukou system,in the discourse system of the residence permit system,the acquisition of citizenship does not represent the automatic realization of related public service rights.For the floating population,holding a residence permit is only the first step towards enjoying the benefits of citizenship.Therefore,in addition to improving the residence permit system,we should also pay attention to the joint efforts in various fields such as housing,health,education,finance and so on,so as to form a policy synergy and truly ensure the equal treatment of the floating population.