Migrant workers in China

10 crucial issues concerning new migrant workers

By Zheng Fengtian

0 Comments Print E-mail China.org.cn, May 10, 2010

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The emerging generation of migrant workers aged 20-30 is presenting new problems for society. There are 10 main issues that we need to pay special attention to when trying to improve the life of the burgeoning workforce.

Change of values between the new generation and the old:

According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 60 percent of today's 145 million migrant workers were born in the 1980s or 1990s. Compared with the older generation, these younger workers have their own values and pursuits. The differences are generally in four aspects listed below:

First, the new generation has more knowledge and higher education than their predecessors. However, they don't know much about farming and have no affection to the farmland they grew up on.

Second, they have different motivations when moving to the cities. The older generation came to the cities with one aim in mind – to shake off poverty. Yet their successors seem to be more ambitious, wanting to broaden their horizons and gain knowledge by living in the cities.

Third, young migrant workers have higher expectations about their jobs. As opposed to their predecessors who work hard to maintain their employment in the cities, the youngsters come with set preconditions toward their pay and working environment.

Forth, the two generations have different consumption habits. To the younger generation, spending money on entertainment offered by city life is more acceptable than to the previous generation.

The new generation has become the mainstream of the country's industrial workforce:

Young construction workers and restaurant servers can be seen everywhere, especially in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, two economic hubs in east China. This generation of workers is the mainstream of the industrial workforce. Therefore, it is of great importance to treat them like real workers and listen to their needs.

Young migrant workers have contributed to the global economy:

Chinese workers were honored by Time for their contribution to the world's economy during the financial crisis. They are deserving of this recognition. About 70 percent of China's economic growth last year was spurred by exports, which was in part from the cheap domestic labor force. Moreover, about 25 million workers lost jobs last year during the economic downturn. Yet social stability was maintained as the jobless masses went home quietly, posing no threats to their bosses or local governments.

The number of migrant workers is expected to decline:

According to the Economist, China's demographic dividend will reach its pinnacle in 2010 and then start to decline. As the huge number of migrant workers drops year by year, China will soon have a scarcity of workers.

Policies need to be adjusted in tackling the shortage of migrant workers:

In the beginning of 2010, the lack of migrant workers in most areas of China marked the end of an era where cheap labor benefited the economy. Adjustments that were made to policies in the past no longer have the same effects. The shortage of workers affects the entire country, including the western regions where many migrant workers come from. In order to improve the life of the workers, it is becoming necessary to gentrify rural areas and reform the residential permit system.

Migrant workers have to be accepted as city residents:

The failure of the French government to smoothly assimilate African and Arab immigrants caused social unrest. China should learn from France's experience.

According to China Youth and Children Research Center (CYCRC), the crime rate of young migrant workers has risen in recent years. About 70.4 percent of those workers did not have a stable job when they committed their crimes, and nearly 69 percent said they broke the law on impulse. Unlike the older generation, young migrant workers are unwilling to go back to their hometowns. Therefore, their poor living conditions and lack of education pose a great threat to social stability.

If cities can help migrant workers adjust to city life, tensions could soon be relieved. It would also enliven the job market and stimulate the development of the real estate market. Similar cases can be seen throughout the immigration histories of America, Canada and Australia, as well as the recent development of Europe.

The phrase "migrant workers" is outdated:

Before making thorough reforms to solve the problems related to social security, medical care, education and housing, the simple method to change the inequality is to stop calling them "migrant workers."

According to Premier Wen Jiabao, the phrase "migrant worker" is obsolete to the new generation moving from rural areas to cities. There are other terms we can use, such as "restaurant servers" or "workers."

Workers need urban social security:

The urban social security system should cover workers who live in cities with stable jobs. The central government has made progress in building up social security funds for those workers and in providing pensions after they retire.

Existing rural security funds are not adaptable or sufficient for the fast-growing needs of workers who must support themselves in the cities after retirement. The government should also solve housing problems, as it is impossible for the workers to afford urban houses with their meager wages.

Workers need enhanced trainings:

As a group, migrant workers lack education. Seven percent are illiterate and no more than 11 percent have ever attended high school. Only 16.4 percent of migrant workers have received professional training. The country should invest more to professionally train migrant workers.

Workers who move from one province to another need residential permits:

Guaranteeing residential permits for migrant workers is a difficult problem. In my opinion, the residential permits issued to workers are related to the construction land quotas of each province. Governments that issue more residential permits to migrant workers should get more land to use.

The author is vice-dean of the Rural and Agricultural Development Institute at Renmin University of China.

(This post was first published in Chinese and translated by Wu Jin.)