Hukou Locks Out Gig Workers

China now leans on roughly 200 million 'flexible workers'—including 40 million day‑wage factory hands and 84 million platform drivers/couriers—who lack contracts and urban hukou, so they miss healthcare, schooling, pensions, and property rights. Most factory gig workers are young, male, and single, and many sleep rough between jobs. A recent Supreme Court ruling allows claims for denied benefits, but enforcement is unclear. — This shows how China’s consumption pivot and social stability are constrained by a precarity‑based labor model and hukou barriers, with global growth and supply‑chain implications.