Homelessness in China
Homelessness in China is a significant social issue. In 2011, there were approximately 2.41 million homeless adults and 179,000 homeless children living in the country. However, one publication estimated that there were one million homeless children in China in 2012. Causes In 2015, it was reported that there are more than 3 million people are homeless in China. Housing in China is highly regulated by the Hukou system. This gives rise to a large number of migrant workers, numbering at 290.77 million in 2019. These migrant workers have rural Hukou, but they move to the cities in order to find better jobs, though due to their rural Hukou they are entitled to fewer privileges than those with urban Hukou. According to Huili et al., these migrant workers "live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions" and are always at risk of displacement to make way for new real estate developments. In 2017, the government responded to a deadly fire in a crowded building in Beijing by cracking down on dense illegal shared accommodations and evicting the residents, leaving many migrant laborers homeless. This comes in the context of larger attempts by the government to limit the population increase in Beijing, often targeting