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: million

Scenario (2) (2) Number of rural out- migrants Migrant laborers account for 85% of all the rural migrants, so there are about million of rural out-migrants in 2006.

Scenario (3) 2. Where rural migrants come from: (2.1) Regional distribution: Figure 1.Figure 1 (2.2) Provincial distribution: Table 1.Table Where rural migrants stay (3.1) Regional distribution: Figure 2.Figure 2. (3.2) Provincial distribution: Figure 3.Figure 3. (3.3) Industrial distribution: Figure 4Figure 4

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Table 1 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

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

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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 7Figure 7 hours per day Figure 8Figure 8 (2.2) Job insecurity: 79% of migrant workers did not signed labor contracts with employers in Housing condition (3.1) Living area: Figure 9Figure 9 (3.2) Housing facility: Figure 10Figure 10

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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 children at school age (7-14 years old). (5.2) There is 87% of migrant children aged under 7 not in kindergarten. (5.3) There is about 16% of migrant children at 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 and 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 workers 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.