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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Song Ying is a white-collar worker living in Shanghai. She moved there two years ago from Ningxia Hui Autonomous1 Region. After some serious efforts, she acquired a local hukou. Life has since become much easier for her.
"First, it is far more convenient for me to process documents, licenses2 and such. Second, it is easier to find a job because companies generally prefer to hire candidates with a local hukou."
Song is lucky, as getting a hukou in a big city can be next to impossible. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 8 million people living and working in Beijing are doing so without a local hukou.
Yang Liu is one of them. She explains why she wants to get that elusive3 hukou so badly.
"Most importantly, a Beijing resident can enjoy many social perks4, which are not available to migrants. For example, if I want to travel to Taiwan on my own, I simply can't when my hukou is from Hebei. I have to be a Beijinger to do that sort of thing."
Yang is not the only one who thinks that way. In fact, social perks attached to one's hukou are a big selling point for most people. And that inevitably5 leads to problems.
Peng Xizhe, director at the State Innovative6 Institute for Public Management and Public Policy Studies at Fudan University, elaborates.
"We think the hukou system is very important because our social management and public services are based on this system. Although it was originally designed as a household registration7 system, it became much more than that. In effect, you can get different social welfare depending on where your hukou is. That causes problems."
So what's the solution? NPC Deputy Cai Jiming makes some suggestions.
"We can first list the differences between local residents and migrants in housing, medical care, education, employment, unemployment insurance, and pension. Then, we try to abolish these distinctions one by one. If we achieve that, we can say 'mission accomplished8.'"
Cai's vision cannot be realized overnight, but there has been progress. Last December, provisional regulations on residence cards started being implemented9 in Beijing.
Du Peng, director of the Information Center for Aging Studies in Renmin University of China, explains how residence cards can contribute to social fairness.
"If I want to work in the city and I have a residence card, I can get access to related information and receive training. In other words, if residence cards can guarantee more welfare gradually, hukou will eventually become useless."
And speaking of welfare, NPC Deputy Han Deyun is determined10 to make one thing happen.
"We must make sure migrants who have residence cards can take their children with them and these children should have access to education."
That echoes the concern of Zhou Zhaojun, who has lived in Beijing for 26 years.
"I now have a proper job and I also bought an apartment. The only thing that bothers me is my children's education. In Beijing, if you don't have a hukou, you cannot participate in the college entrance examination."
Although the situation has not changed just yet, Zhou is optimistic. He believes his problem will be solved in the near future.
1 autonomous | |
adj.自治的;独立的 | |
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2 licenses | |
n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准,许可,颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 ) | |
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3 elusive | |
adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的 | |
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4 perks | |
额外津贴,附带福利,外快( perk的名词复数 ) | |
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5 inevitably | |
adv.不可避免地;必然发生地 | |
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6 innovative | |
adj.革新的,新颖的,富有革新精神的 | |
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7 registration | |
n.登记,注册,挂号 | |
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8 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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9 implemented | |
v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效 | |
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10 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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