Living Conditions of the Floating Population in Urban China

Slums and squatters are not widespread in most Chinese cities and towns even though China has been experiencing rapid urbanization. Moreover, statistics from the 2000 Census reveal that migrants do not necessarily live in poorer housing conditions than non-migrants in urban areas; some housing facilities for the floating population, who moved without changes in household registration, are even better than those of local urban residents. Using 1 per cent of the household sample of the 2000 Census dataset, this paper examines the living conditions and their determinants of the floating population in urban China.