Liu Gang lives in Beijing with his wife and infant son. Buying a home is out of the question for him: prices in his neighbourhood start at four million renminbi ($635,750) for a hundred-square-metre apartment. As one of millions of migrant workers locked out of benefits in the place he lives, Liu is a victim not only of China’s bloated property market, but of a dated and discriminatory hukou (house registration) system.
Last year Liu’s wife had a severely premature baby. As the couple’s hukous were registered outside Beijing, they received no subsidized medical care. Hospital bills reached $9,500 – over twice Liu’s monthly income. Long-term prospects are not much better. Unable to buy a home in the capital, despite his job as a consultant, Liu – like tens of thousands before him – has turned to his hometown, where prices are cheaper. He is now paying both a 30-year mortgage on his $111,000 apartment in Changsha and rent in Beijing.
