Jane Lai
NEARLY 20,000 migrant workers had applied by yesterday to join a new hukou system launched Sept. 30 to make it easier for migrant workers to attain urban residence certificates.
In the new hukou government-indexed rating system, a migrant worker with more than 60 points will be eligible to apply for Shenzhen urban residency.
Applicants with between 60 to 80, 81 to 100, and 100 points and above account for 55, 25 and 20 percent of migrant workers respectively, the city s human resource and social security administration said yesterday.
But the city is only allowed by the provincial government to offer hukou to 4,600 applicants. Migrant workers must apply before Nov. 1 for a Shenzhen hukou. The more points an applicant has, the more likely it is that he or she will attain hukou this time, the administration said.
More than six million migrants work in the city and about 40,000 of them have been offered Shenzhen hukou since 2004.
Migrant workers do not enjoy the same treatment as their urban counterparts in employment, education, health care and social security.
Under the new rating system, educational background, skill level and social security records, as well as participation in voluntary activities such as donating blood, will contribute to a worker s rating. Offenses, including a criminal record or violations of China s family planning policy, will lead to a deduction of points.
Those who graduated from junior high school will receive only five points, while university graduates will receive 80 points.
Besides social security, the residence certificates will warrant workers housing subsidies, as well as supportive policies and backup funds if they run a business. The family members of qualified workers can also enjoy preferential policies ranging from education to employment.
Guangdong is a major destination for migrant workers given its status as a manufacturing center. Its hukou system has been blamed for major welfare disparities between immigrants and citizens amid China s accelerating urbanization efforts.
