Op-Ed Contributors

Rising power of migrants

By Bai Qingfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-07 07:54

Compared with traditional migrant workers, the younger crop generally has no experience of agricultural production after leaving school. They are mainly an unmarried group, with nearly 80 percent of them single. This means they will face significant life events, including marriage and rearing children, during their period of work in cities.

In contrast, 80 percent of the older generation of migrant workers had been married before coming to urban areas.

As per 2009 data, youngsters having an educational level of high school or more and under the age of 30 made up 26 percent. Workers between 21 and 25 made up 31.1 percent. Some 36.9 percent of these migrant workers have received vocational training. These statistics are generally higher than average for migrant workers as a whole.

Since they started to work during a crucial period of institutional reform and social transformation, their key work motive has changed from mere subsistence to the pursuit of long-term development in modern cities. Data have shown that 78.6 percent of these young migrant workers think "being treated with respect is much more important than making money".

They have a strong desire to carve a unique identity for themselves, which is basically the outcome of social progress and material plenty.

They seek better career development prospects and think working in cities will ensure them a higher standard of living. They have higher expectations of urban life. Apart from making money to secure for their families a better life, they also want to change their fates, show their competence at work and gain a foothold in urban society.

These days, they also prefer jobs that involve high technology and impart better skills, and show a strong desire to learn and develop on the job.

Since they are younger and better educated than their parents, their way of thinking is dynamic. Yet, they too are vulnerable and face many a setback during the early phases of their career. They treasure their leisure times, but still retain a flexible attitude toward working overtime.

The younger generation, in short, is inclined to perceive themselves more as workers than as farmers looking for better prospects in cities.

In fact, this generation is in a transitional phase, going from being farmers to urban citizens, and thus has a dual role to play in society.

In order to achieve a better quality of life, they strive hard to find the right jobs, take their work environment and salary prospects seriously, and think deeply about improving their work conditions and wages - all of which are consistent with the features of industrial workers.

Nevertheless, confined by the dual system, they are still legally identified as farmers, and the existing policies and situation in urban areas do not instill in them a sense of belonging in cities.

The author is the editor of Trade Union Weekly of the Worker's Daily.

(China Daily 07/07/2010 page8)