Migrants may opt to return to rural life

BIDDING farewell to the countryside for a better future in big cities was once the dream of millions of rural residents. However, a survey by a statistics bureau in Sichuan province, Southwest China, showed that about 54 percent of migrant workers in nine cities in the region are reluctant to change their rural household registration or hukou into an urban one. A regional website cnhubei.com comments:

The reluctance of these migrant workers to settle in cities reflects the reality they face. Although many have now lived in a city for more than a decade, they still jump from one low paid job to another. Even though some may have savings and may even have bought their own apartments they still don't feel a sense of belonging in the place in which they work and live.

Treated differently with regard to social insurance, education, healthcare and housing policies, they say that "owning a place to sleep in a city" doesn't mean much.