2014 Theses Master's

Real-name Registration System as a Way to Improve Social Service Security: A Case Study of Migrant Construction Workers in Nanjing

Chen, Yiwen

In today's China, the universal social service system has strict geographical boundaries, which specifies the service boundaries as well. All citizens can enjoy universal service in the cities where their Hukou [China's household registration] are registered. However, when people begin to migrate, social services delivery becomes a problem. In the year of 2012, population of migration reached the number of 236 million (National Statistics Bureau, 2013), which was about 1/6 of total population in China. In the absence of formal organization such as trade unions, improving the well-being of temporary workers in informal sectors is the concern of the author. These people are also characterized as informal citizens and are not covered by the basic social protection scheme granted to citizens. In this thesis, the research question is how local municipal government can deliver service to migrants. Through the case demonstration of the recent implementation of Real-name registration system for migrant construction workers in Nanjing, where obtaining Hukou is not easy for migrants, the author determines that the Real-name registration is an effective approach toward improving the social service security of migrant constructions workers.