The exponential growth of Beijing has coincided with the rapid increase in the number of migrant workers and their families that have moved there. Subject to the hukou system, an institutionalized form of government where immigrant workers’ access to government services is dependent on their birthplace, these individuals often enter the city and take unwanted, but often necessary, jobs in the city. They live without: protection from the government, healthcare or social welfare, and education for their children. Perhaps the greatest victims are the children, who grow up in abject poverty, unable to attend school, and viewed as outsiders by their peers.
