Impact of Household Registration Status on Income and Attitudes towards Society in China

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of China’s hukou system on economic outcomes and social attitudes using data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS2021). The study finds that the hukou system still has a significant effect at the economic level: the income level of the non-agricultural hukou group is significantly higher than that of the agricultural hukou group, indicating the important role of hukou in resource allocation and income gap. However, at the social psychological level (social trust, social distrust, sense of social fairness and subjective well-being), the hukou effect has weakened significantly. The results of multiple regression analysis show that political identity, educational level, income, and housing conditions have stronger explanatory power for social attitudes than the urban-rural hukou difference. This result implies that the logic of social stratification in contemporary China is transforming from identity restriction based on hukou to resource restriction centered on economic resources and institutional identity. Theoretically, this study suggests that economic resources (income, housing conditions, educational opportunities) and institutional identities (political identity, social roles) are gradually replacing hukou as more important dimensions in shaping individuals’ social attitudes and psychological perceptions.