by Chen Xiwen, deputy office chief of the central
government's
Central Leading Group of Financial Work
The State Council held a national workshop earlier this month on
the issue of farmers-turned-urban workers. This was the first
conference of its kind in the country.
Conference participants stressed that 10 practical issues of
greatest concern for migrant workers should be solved with
strenuous efforts. These include the default of their payments, the
minimum wage level, labour contracts, work safety and hygienic
conditions, protection of their rights and interests, employment
guidance, skill and safety training, insurance, their children's
rights to receive compulsory education in cities, family planning
and health services.
It is believed that protection of migrant workers' rights and
interests and their employment conditions will be improved when the
above-mentioned work gets enhanced.
The issues concerning migrant workers are special social
phenomena during China's modernization and urbanization
process.
In the years of planned economy, farmers-turned city residents
would be seen to by the government in terms of employment, housing,
social security and their children's schooling.
But only a very few farmers got such opportunities. Farmers, as
a whole, were tied to the land.
After the country adopted the reform and opening-up policy,
farmers' right to choose a job expanded. They were able to work
freely in rural industries or do jobs in cities and towns.
But this has been a difficult process.
In recent years, farmers-turned-workers started as "blind
migrants" loathed by some city dwellers and are now still limited
to manual work that their city counterparts are unwilling to do.
Their wages are low and always defaulted. Their work safety cannot
be guaranteed and living conditions are poor. Husbands and wives
have to separate and their children, usually excluded from urban
schools due to high fees, are left at home.
While the living conditions of migrant workers are not
optimistic, the contingent is becoming bigger year by year. This
shows farmers' pursuit of the well-off civic life and the
irresistibility of economic social development.
The migrant workers' hardships and the 10 issues stressed at the
conference are really provocative.
What is the hard nut for China's modernization? Everyone may
have his or her own understanding, but no one can deny that a huge
rural population and low urbanization level are the crux of it.
Since the land contract and responsibility system was
implemented, farmers began looking for job opportunities outside
their home land. Thus there appeared township enterprises and a
large influx of rural labourers into towns and cities.
More than 20 years of migrant workers' persistence gets paid by
the state's commitment to solve the issues that closely concern
their lives now that society realizes the relationship between
migrant workers and the country's modernization.
But the title of "farmers-turned-workers" still exists, which
shows that these labourers' status has not been changed though they
are able to work in cities. It also demonstrates the difficulties
of China's urbanization.
Farmers were not able to transfer into cities in the very early
years due to the country's insufficient supply of goods and
materials. When the basic supply was uncertain, public enterprises
were unable to provide enough employment opportunities for migrant
labourers.
With the growth of the non-public sector in our socialist market
economy, there has been a great increase of jobs in cities and
towns. But the reform of the social welfare system has made social
security and housing the two biggest obstacles for
farmers-turned-workers to merge in the urban society.
From "blind migrants" to "farmers -turned-workers" and further
to city dwellers, it is really a long and rocky road for Chinese
farmers to transform into urban residents.
Statistics show that the number of rural labourers working in
non-agricultural industries was 21.82 million in 1978 and 204.12
million in 2005. During the same period, the number of labourers
engaged in agriculture increased from 284.56 million to 299.76
million as well. The urban population, including farmers-turned-
workers and their family members who live in cities for more than
six months, was 562.12 million, accounting for 43 percent of the
total population in 2005.
But calculated by their permanent residence registration, the
rural population was still 949.08 million and the urbanization rate
was only 27.4 percent - just over three-fifths of the figure
calculated according to their actual residence.
All these data show that the transfer of rural labour is still
facing severe challenges. It should be fully recognized to better
understand the hardship of China's urbanization.
There will always be hope ahead. Two decades ago, it could not
be imagined that hundreds of millions of farmers would be working
in cities. As the country deepens reform and steps up development,
problems will be solved one by one.
And when they are, the concept of "farmers-turned-workers" will
finally fade from history.
(China Daily October 25, 2006)