Abstract: The hukou division between urban and rural areas leads to objective disparities in the government welfare provision across different regions，resulting in the differentiation of residents’ subjective attitudes towards welfare. With the deepening of household registration reforms，hundreds of millions of people in China have gone through the process of “rural-to-urba” residential migration. An in-depth discussion on their welfare attitudes would not only help to fill the gap in research on the subjective characteristics of this group but also broaden the discussion on the relationship between welfare attitudes，the welfare system，and population migration. An empirical analysis on CGSS data reveals that significant and consistent differences exist between rural-to-urban migrants and local residents on the perceptions of government welfare responsibilities. The previous rural life experience has shaped the welfare ethic of rural-to-urban migrants that tends to assume more responsibility for their own well-being. The “life event” of cross-system migration leads to more positive outlooks of social and personal development，inhibiting their expectation for the government to take care of them. Among migrants，cognitive difference exists between those who made rural to urban conversion under “policy programs”and those by their own choice and action. The study brings the following insights：The gradual improvement of China’s welfare system，as well as the fact that cross-system migration increases the variability of welfare attitudes and the complexity of formation mechanisms，have made it questionable of the theoretical value of researches that attempt to determine the boundaries of the government’s responsibility for welfare with the help of foreign viewpoints on welfare. Policymakers need to take into account the objective level of welfare provisionand continue to improve public wellbeing. At the same time，the research of welfare attitudes needs to go further from tracking explicit preferences to interpreting their ethical core，so as to provide intellectual support for the profound connection between welfare system design and welfare ethics，and to promote the development of welfare policies with Chinese characteristics.

Key words: rural-to-urban migration, welfare attitude, welfare ethics, welfare system, government care responsibility perception