Rural Migration in China: Scenario, Challenge and Public Policy

Li Shi Beijing Normal University

Scenario (1) 1. How many rural migrants: (1) Number of rural out-migrant workers : 1978: 2 million 1989: 30 million 1993: 62 million 2001: 78 million 2002: 94 million 2003: 110 million 2004: 120 million 2006: 130-150 million

Scenario (2)

(2) Number of rural out-migrants

Migrant laborers account for 85% of all the rural migrants, so there are about 150-170 million of rural out-migrants in 2006.

Scenario (3)

2. Where rural migrants come from:

(2.1) Regional distribution: Figure 1. (2.2) Provincial distribution: Table 1.

3. Where rural migrants stay

(3.1) Regional distribution: Figure 2. (3.2) Provincial distribution: Figure 3. (3.3) Industrial distribution: Figure 4

Figure1

33

40

270 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

East

Centre

West

percent

Figure 1 Regional distribution of rural migrantsby origin place, 2004

Table 1 Provincial distribution of rural migrant workers by destination place, 2004

> 10 million: Sichuan, Henan

> 5 million: Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi

Figure 2

70

14

16

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

East

Centre

West

percent

Figure 2 Regional distribution of rural migrantsby destination place, 2004

Figure 3

Fi gure 3 Provi nci al di stri buti on of ruralmi grants by desti nati on pl ace, 2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Provi nce

perc

ent

Figure 4

Fi gure 4 Di stri buti on of rural mi grant workersby i ndustry, 2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

I ndust ry

%

Scenario (4)

4. Who rural migrants are (4.1) Age composition: Figure 5 (4.2) Gender: Male: 66%, Female: 34% (4.3) Education: Figure 6.

Figure 5

26-3016%

31-4023%

41 and over16%

16-2545%

Fi gure 5 Age composi ti on of rural mi grant workers, 2004

Figure 6

Fi gure 6 Di stri buti on of rural mi grant workersby educati onal attai nment

upper- mi ddl e12%

prof essi onalschool or

above5%

pr i mary schoolor bel ow

18%

l ower- mi ddl e65%

Scenario (5)

5. How rural migrants come out

57%: having personal connections: relatives, friends, village neighbors;

14% : through labor market; 12%: organized by local governments; 17%: found job on their own.

Problem and challenge (1) 1. Income insecurity(2004)

(1.1) Ave. income of migrant workers: 780 yuan being 58% of average wage of urban workers

(1.2) Income distribution: 7.6% of migrants <300 yuan per month 17.8% between 300 and 500 yuan 37% between 500 and 800 yuan 16.4% between 800 and 1000 yuan 21.2% over 1000 yuan

(1.3) Payment delay: 6% of migrant workers in 2004

Problem and challenge (2) 2. Working condition (2.1) Working time: days per week Figure 7 hours per day Figure 8

(2.2) Job insecurity: 79% of migrant workers did not signed labor contracts with employers in 2004

3. Housing condition (3.1) Living area: Figure 9 (3.2) Housing facility: Figure 10

Figure 7

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

5《 5 6 7

worki ng days per week of rural mi grant workers, 2002

Figure 8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

8《 8 9- -10 11- -12 =13 〉

worki ng hours per day of rural mi grant workers ( 2002 )年

Figure 9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

< 5 5- -8 9- -10 11- -15 =15〉

Li vi ng area of rural mi grant: square meterper capi ta 2002（ ）

Figure 10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

No bothroom andtoi l et

onl y toi l et publ i c toi l et havi ng bothroomand toi l et

Housi ng faci l i ty of rural mi grants(2002)

Problem and challenge (3) 4. Social security (2002): (4.1) Pension: 5% of rural migrant

workers (4.2) Unemployment insurance: <2% (4.3) Medical insurance: =3% (4.4) Public housing: <10%

Problem and challenge (4)

5. Children’s education: (5.1) There are about 7-8 million of migrant ch

ildren at school age (7-14 years old). (5.2) There is 87% of migrant children aged un

der 7 not in kindergarten. (5.3) There is about 16% of migrant children a

t school age not in school. (5.4) There is 67% of migrant children paying

higher school fees.

Public Policy (1)

1. Changes in policy for rural migration (1.1) Strict restriction on rural migration before during

1980s: blind floating (mang liu). (1.2) Encouraging rural people moving to small town a

nd development of TVEs during 1990s: Leaving land but not village (li tu bu li xiang).

(1.3) Loosing restrictions on rural migration at the beginning of the new century.

(1.4) Providing some services to rural migrants since 2005.

Public Policy (2)

2. New policies implemented recently:

(2.1) Experiments of hukou reform in some cities, Chongqing (2003), Shijiazhuang (2001), Zhengzhou (2003), Jiangsu (2002).

(2.2) Abolishing fees charged particularly for rural migrants: such as Temporary Living Fee (zan zhu fei), Migrant Management Fee (liu dong ren kou guan li fei), City-entry Fee (cheng shi zeng rong fee), Service Fee for Immigrant Workers (wai lai wu gong ren yuan wu fu fei)

Public Policy (3)

(2.3) Guaranteeing wage payment in time

(2.4) Social security for rural migrants Pension, work-related injury insurance, medical insurance. (2.5) Training program for rural migrant work

ers “Sunshine Project”; 2.5 million in 2004

Public Policy (4)

(2.5) Providing social services for rural migrants

Providing free-charge job services; Removing school-entry fees for migrant

children and allowing them to get in public schools in cities;

Establishing law assistance agents for rural migrants in some cities.