Making welfare subordinate to market activities: Reconstructing social security in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Both the Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region governments have recently been reforming their social security policies with the emphasis on welfare residualism. This paper is intended to discuss the background to the reforms and to demonstrate how the reforms are designed to reduce the governments' commitment to meeting social needs. It argues that the two governments, by developing the entry, exit, double entry, and double exit systems of social security services, have attempted to strengthen the role of the private market in regulating people's entrance to both the labour and consumption market, and public welfare services.