Scholars welcome proposal to provide residence permits to migrant workers in cities
A proposal for residence permits is seen as a step to end discrimination against non-local workers and expand their access to essential services
Researchers have welcomed a proposal to give migrant workers many of the same rights as their urban peers with a new system of residence permits.
The central government has launched a public consultation on the proposal in the latest move to reform the decades-old household registration regime and give migrant workers easier access to basic public services and other rights. Such social welfare benefits are now only enjoyed by residents with a hukou, or household registration, in a given city.
If adopted, migrants who have lived in a city for more than six months would be able to apply for a residence permit if they had a stable job or residence, or were enrolled at a local school, according to the proposal released by the State Council.
Holders of the permits would be entitled to the same basic public services as residents, including free compulsory education, unemployment support, basic public health services and social insurance, the document says.
The draft regulations, which will be open to public feedback until January 2, are being hailed by experts as a major step to redress discrimination against migrant workers and to allow freer movement of people from the countryside to urban areas.
Professor Wang Taiyuan, from the Chinese People's Public Security University, said residence permits would be a critical part of national reform of the hukou regime as they addressed the rights and interests that migrant workers were entitled to.