roughly we spent 10,000 rmb to give birth to my baby, this includs all the expenses of medical checks and the final childbirht. you need to add another 3,000 rmb if you choose caesarean birth. since my wife holds a shanghai
Hukou, all the expenses are covered by the "birth subsidy" (shengyu buzhujin), which offers a fixed amount of 10,000 rmb and is not available to those without a shanghai Hukou. a friend of my wife, who doesn't have a shanghai hukou, considered to go back to her hometown (a rural area near shanghai) to have the childbirth, which will only cost about 1,000 rmb, but finally decided to stay in shanghai because she want the better services. even so, her child can not go to the high schools in shanghai and enjoy many other benefits that only shanghai hukou holders can receive.
today is the second day of china's Gao Kao (china's national university entrance exams). Gao Kao, which was restored in 1977, greatly help the upward mobility in china since then, ambitious and bright young people are selected to enter the higher social hierarches. but, for those who move from one place to another, hukou is still a big obstacle
related links:
Hukou system set for changeIs The Hukou System Really Disappearing?