Welfare program participation among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers in China

Xu Q, Guan X, Yao F. Welfare program participation among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers in China Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 10–21 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. An estimated 225 million Chinese people have migrated to cities from China's rural areas over the past two decades. These rural‐to‐urban migrant workers have greatly challenged China's welfare system. The pre‐reform welfare system was a duel scheme with an urban–rural distinction in which rural residents were not covered by state‐run welfare programs and had to rely on their families and rural collectives. The development of employment‐based social insurance programs in 1999 made social welfare programs available for rural‐to‐urban migrant workers. Using an anonymous survey conducted in seven cities across China in 2006, we found that social insurance program participation rates were low among rural‐to‐urban migrant workers. Individual factors, including lack of knowledge of welfare programs and of a willingness to participate, and macro‐level factors, including type of employer and industry, are critical in determining migrant workers' participation in welfare programs. Implications for policies and practice are discussed.     

农民工城镇化现状与前景

本论文运用年龄结构—生命周期方法分析农民工就业状况对他们城镇化的影响。基于中国企业用工年轻化、农民工失业中年化的现状,论文首先运用年龄结构—生命周期模型进行了估算,指出为了全家城镇化,农民工夫妻婚后一般需要连续工作30 年。在此基础上,论文构建了农民工工作寿命表,用以估算中国具备城镇化最低限度经济能力的农民工总量。考虑到未来企业用工年龄结构的变化,预计2006年时年龄在 30岁以下的6900多万农民工及其家属都已具备在城镇定居的最起码的经济条件。     

Enhancing Social Support for Migrant Families: A Case Study of Community Services in a Shanghai Urban Village and Implications for Intervention

Recent years have witnessed the growing emphasis of the Chinese central government to develop community services as a method of building communities and strengthening social solidarity. With the increased involvement of multi‐generation households in China's internal rural‐to‐urban migration, however, little is known about what community services are available for migrant families. Nor do we know much about how such services can enhance social support for migrants, which is crucial for their psychological well‐being in managing the ongoing challenges that arise from migration and further integration into cities. This article presents a case study conducted in Shanghai where social services are emerging in a few urban villages. We begin with a brief background on China's rural‐to‐urban migration and the emergence of urban villages, followed by a discussion of community services and social support for Chinese migrant families. We then document existing services in an urban village to explore how they can influence migrant families' social support. Drawing on the perspective of service providers, we highlight the effects social work interventions can have on improving social support for migrant families. Finally, we propose an intervention framework based on multi‐dimensions of social support, emphasizing an integration of formal and informal social support through community services for migrant populations.     

Rural migrant workers in urban China: living a marginalised life

The rural migrant worker population in China is attracting more and more attention because of its magnitude and potential economic and social impact on Chinese society. While literature abounds in describing the demographic trends and economic impacts of rural to urban migration, very few articles have been written about the psychosocial impacts of migration on the lives of rural migrant workers in urban China. Drawing on the concept of marginalisation, this article describes the nature and characteristics of marginalised living experienced by migrant workers. More importantly, it examines the underlying policy issues contributing to such marginalised living. It is argued that the Hukou system (household registration system), the process of decentralisation and the obscure role of trade unions have contributed to the experience of marginalisation of rural migrant workers in urban cities in China. Implications for policy changes are also discussed.     

SPECIAL ISSUE： MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE COURSE OF URBANIZATION An investigation into intergenerational differences between two generations of migrant workers

以1980年前后出生为界,中国城市农民工呈现出明显的代际差异：80后农民工拥有更多人力资本,有职业规划,求职途径较多为市场和政府,关注自己的长远发展,职业稳定性较低;他们被侵权或自己感觉被侵权的比例更高,对相关劳动法规更了解,更有维权的勇气;个人消费水平高于80前农民工,网民比例高,业余生活娱乐休闲色彩浓厚;对社会的评价和认同度相对更高,与老家的联系程度正在减弱,更愿意放弃老家田地、把户口迁入工作城市。80后农民工向企业的管理理念提出了挑战,更向城乡二元社会结构提出了挑战;农民工在取得流动权、工作权以后,理应进一步取得与城市居民完全平等的公民权。     

论人力资本视角的新生代农民工教育福利

新生代农民工是我国新兴产业工人的主力军,他们有着日益强烈的市民化和城市化倾向,而且已经成为＂事实移民＂,并出现＂常住化＂、＂家庭化＂趋势,但他们属于城乡二元结构中的＂边缘人＂、无归属群体。其中主要原因除了政策体制性因素外,新生代农民工的人力资本状况是影响他们能否适应城市,能否实现在城市发展的关键性因素。实施选择性教育福利政策,强化对新生代农民工的教育投资,促使新生代农民工教育培训政策的转型,既可以提升他们的人力资本、城市适应能力、自我发展能力,也能重塑新生代农民工主体性,改变其身份认同的模糊感,形成他们的城市归属感,实现社会和谐发展,同时能提升我国整体竞争能力,实现人力资源强国战略。     

Life Satisfaction of Rural Migrant Workers in Urban China: The Roles of Community Service Participation and Identity Integration

Abstract

China is home to approximately 245 million rural-to-urban migrant workers. The influx of migrants into urban areas has posed various challenges for local social service systems. Recently, increasing number of community services have been developed to meet the growing service demands from the migrant population. However, whether increase in community service use results in improved wellbeing among migrant workers remains critically unexplored. As such, this study examines the role of community service use in migrant workers’ life satisfaction and the potential mediating effect of identity integration in Shenzhen, China. Bootstrapped models were adopted to examine relationship among variables. Drawing from a sample of 1,087 rural-to-urban migrant workers, we found that community service use is positively correlated with both identity integration and migrant workers’ life satisfaction. Moreover, identity integration served as a partial mediator between community service use and life satisfaction. The mediating effect of identity integration was found to increase with age. This study highlights that diverse services should be implemented to address divergent needs of migrants in different age groups. Community service can also serve as a vehicle to foster integration among migrant workers in host communities, especially for older age groups. Future studies may further investigate the relationships between community social capital, community social support, quality of community-based organization and frequency of service use so as to optimize the life satisfaction of migrant workers.     

农民工收入与村庄网络 基于多重模型识别策略的因果效应分析

以往基于家庭网和社交网的实证研究表明,社会网络对农民工的工资收入没有影响。这些结论的得出,很大程度上是由于对农民工个人网的范围界定不准,且对内生性问题解决不够。本文采用22个省份的农户调查数据,针对中国农民工频繁返乡的特点,证实同村打工网的规模与农民工在城市中的收入具有正向因果关系。为解决影响因果判断的内生偏误问题,本文采取赫克曼二阶段法和工具变量方法组合使用的多重模型识别策略,把村庄遭受的自然灾害强度作为工具变量。     

Current Situation and Prospects for the Urbanization of Chinese Migrant Workers

本论文运用年龄结构—生命周期方法分析农民工就业状况对他们城镇化的影响。基于中国企业用工年轻化、农民工失业中年化的现状，论文首先运用年龄结构—生命周期模型进行了估算，指出为了全家城镇化，农民工夫妻婚后一般需要连续工作30年。在此基础上，论文构建了农民工工作寿命表，用以估算中国具备城镇化最低限度经济能力的农民工总量。考虑到未来企业用工年龄结构的变化，预计2006年时年龄在30岁以下的6900多万农民工及其家属都已具备在城镇定居的最起码的经济条件。

关键词: 农民工城镇化?农民工就业?年龄结构—生命周期模型?工作年限?中年失业

This article uses the age‐structure/life‐cycle method to analyze the impact of migrant workers’ employment on their urbanization. Since enterprises tend to employ younger workers and unemployed migrant workers tend to be middle‐aged, we first apply the age structure/life cycle model to carry out our estimations, pointing out that in order to complete the urbanization of their families, migrant worker couples usually have to work for thirty years consecutively after marriage. On this basis, the article constructs a working life table for migrant workers and uses it to estimate the total quantity of Chinese migrant workers who have the minimum economic capacity required for urbanization. Taking into consideration future changes in the age structure of enterprise employment, we estimate that over the sixty‐ nine million migrant workers who were under thirty years old in 2006, together with their families, would already be in possession of the minimum economic conditions for settling in urban areas.     

激活优势:家长主义浪潮下家长参与的群体差异

基于对同一城区两个初中班级的跟踪调查，本文考察了中国家长参与的特征以及不同群体在适应上的差异。文章发现，通过资源激活、能力塑造和责任伦理，城区学校在新的教育情势下建构起有关家长参与的话语。家长参与在学校空间的公共事务上发育缓慢，在家庭空间的私人事务上却发展迅猛，不同群体之间差异较大。基于参与意识、参与能力和参与行为的差异，不同群体的家长参与表现为：外来务工群体被唤起教育失败者的经验，采用被动应对的策略；城市普通工薪群体激发出难以胜任的经验，采用模仿依循的策略；中产群体则激活出教育成功者的经验，采用主动建构的策略。由此，家校之间成为阶层运作的重要场域空间。     

中国新生代农民工：社会态度和行为选择

20世纪80年代以后出生的“新生代农民工”现已达到约1亿人,成为中国社会转型过程中破除城乡二元结构、加快推动城镇化进程的关键人群。与“老一代农民工”相比,新生代农民工的价值取向和行为规则等已发生很大变化。本文基于中国社会科学院社会学所2008年“全国社会状况综合调查”数据,比较分析了新生代农民工的收入状况、受教育水平、工作技能、消费特征和地位认同,并重点分析了“代际”（新生代）和“阶层”（农民工）两个因素对新生代农民工的处境、行为取向和社会态度的影响,以及收入、生活压力和社会态度三者之间的关系。研究发现,生活压力的变化和个人权利意识的增强,对新生代农民工的社会态度和行为取向具有非常重要的影响。     

从职业发展到家庭完整性：基于稳定城市化分析视角的农民工入户意愿研究

本文基于稳定城镇化的框架,从个体职业发展和家庭完整性角度分析农民工入户诉求,并以一个代表性的调查数据,对此展开实证研究。研究发现,农民工的入户意愿,不仅受其职业发展现状和未来职业发展规划影响,还受其家庭完整性因素的影响,如夫妻团聚（同城工作或生活）、子女教育以及住房状况等。相对于珠三角地区,长三角地区的农民工群体入户意愿更高,且家庭完整性因素对其入户意愿的影响更显著。这说明,对农民工不能仅在经济上接纳却在社会上排斥,而应让农民工与市民在权利方面逐步均等化。同时,在长三角地区,改革户籍和促进民工市民化任务显得更为迫切。     

中国城市住房分层:基于2010年广州市千户问卷调查(英文)

2010年广州市千户问卷调查数据表明：城市住房分层结构是一个从低到高依次由无产权房阶层、有产权房阶层（福利性产权房阶层、商品性产权房阶层、继承性产权房阶层）和多产权房阶层构成的“三阶五级式”结构;个人的政治资本、人力资本、职业状况及收入水平对人们获得住房资源有显著影响;城市住房分层既反映社会贫富分化又可加剧社会贫富差距。因此,住房保障目标、对象及方式的选择应以住房分层状况为前提。     

Injured but not Entitled to Legal Insurance Compensation – Ornamental Institutions and Migrant Workers’ Informal Channels in China

Due to the rapid industrialization and urbanization of China, an estimated 252 million farmers have migrated from impoverished rural areas to prosperous urban regions, seeking off‐farm employment. In China, these are referred to as migrant workers. Workers’ compensation insurance law represents one of the most vital formal institutions for Chinese migrant workers. Through in‐depth interviews with migrant workers and employers, the authors find that instead of making a formal claim based on workers’ compensation insurance law, most injured migrant workers adopt informal channels (e.g. bargaining, negotiation, threats, violence) to receive compensation from employers. Even when migrant workers are insured in accordance with the law, they may be denied legal insurance compensation and thus turn to informal private settlement. Generally, the amount of compensation acquired by means of informal private settlement is significantly smaller than that awarded in the case of legal insurance compensation. This practice reveals that, like some other formal institutions in China, workers’ compensation insurance law is merely a symbolic ornament, window‐dressing for the public, which are referred to as ‘ornamental institutions'. In the way they are designed, set up and funded, these ornamental institutions can easily prove illusory since they conceal an anarchic world wherein diverse informal channels of social actors emerge, which reflect the reality of Chinese society. Therefore, only through deep empirical research, like this study, can one see beyond the facade of modernity in contemporary China, observe the reality of social actors, and reflect upon the functioning of ornamental institutions.     

同乡的力量：同乡聚集对农民工工资收入的影响

中国的城乡流动中存在同一籍贯或同一来源地的农村流动人口的就业聚集现象--“同乡聚集”。本研究使用2010年珠三角和长三角外来务工者调查的数据,采用倾向分数匹配和异质性干预模型等方法,考察了以籍贯为族群基础的同乡聚集对城市农民工经济收入的影响。研究发现,尽管同乡聚集者的收入优势受到异质性和自我选择机制的影响,但同乡聚集仍有助于提高农民工的工资收入。越倾向于同乡聚集的农民工,从同乡聚集中获得的收入回报越高。     

Families on the move in China: challenges,strategies, and implications

We studied 12 migrant families who lived on the outskirts of Beijing, conducting participant observations and in-depth interviews between July 2008 and December 2009. Adopting the family strengths perspective, we identified the strategies employed by the migrant population to manage family life, the reliance on family networks for help and support, and their means of coping with the lack of equal access to state-provided benefits and services. We argue that migrants and their families should not be the target of policy or practice interventions – despite the unequal treatment, they cope with various difficulties, survive the migration process and succeed in adjustment and adaptation to the migrant life – rather, the divisive hukou system and the associated unequal distribution of benefits and services require fundamental reform.     

Do people respond to low probability risks? Evidence from tornado risk and manufactured homes

Whether people perceive and respond to low-probability natural hazards is a research question of considerable policy relevance. We obtain evidence by considering the response of housing choice to tornado risk for manufactured homes. The vulnerability of manufactured housing, combined with its growing share of the U.S. housing market, has led to proposed mandates for community shelters in mobile home parks. Expected utility theory, however, predicts that households should account for tornado risk in their housing choice. We test for an effect of tornado risk on manufactured housing demand using cross-sectional state data, as well as counties in three tornado prone states. We find that people do respond to tornado risk; our estimates indicate that each expected annual state tornado death per million residents reduces demand for manufactured homes by about 3%. The estimated quantity effect is consistent with the market studies of the price elasticity of manufactured homes.     

外出务工对民族混居农村的影响——来自内蒙古翁牛特旗农村的调查

摘要：近20年来,“农民工”已经成为中国城乡经济活动中的重要组成部分和社会现象,上亿农民进城务工与生活不仅极大促进了城市经济的发展,调整了城市人口的年龄结构,推进了中国城市化进程,同时也有力地改善了农民家庭的收入。但目前学界的研究偏于宏观分析和对“迁入地”的调查,对“迁出地”的调查相对较少。本文以内蒙古自治区半农半牧区的26个自然村的户访问卷调查数据为基础,分析了当地外出务工人员的基本情况、结构性特征及务工活动对当地农户收入的贡献,有助于我们更加深入细致地认识和理解农村的外出务工现象及其对农民生活的影响。     

Better educational inclusion of migrant children in urban schools? Exploring the influences of the population control policy in large Chinese cities

The educational inclusion of rural–urban migrant children in Chinese urban schools has been promoted in the past decades. This paper provides a contextualized interpretation of recent policy developments governing large Chinese cities and evaluates its impact upon the status of migrant children's education. Drawing on data collected from 1,331 migrant children in urban inclusive schools, this study compared current migrant children's family backgrounds and psychological sense of belonging at school in relation to educational outcomes at the primary education level. Results showed that migrant children's socioeconomic status (SES) levels were slightly higher than their counterparts in inclusive schools and a salient SES stratification of migrant students was found. This correlates with students’ reports of fewer incidences of discrimination than hypothesized. Furthermore, capital in migrant families was positively associated with the psychological sense of belonging and academic achievement. These results reveal a significant change to migrant students’ SES as a result of the recent population control policy pertaining to China's large cities since 2014. Implications for research and educational practice, especially with at‐risk migrant students of low‐SES, are discussed.     

劳工输出、跨国生产政治与剥削关系的形成——中国赴日劳工的案例研究

在全球化背景下，发展中国家向发达国家的劳工输出形塑了一种资方与劳方之间的剥削关系。基于中国赴日劳工的案例，本研究借助“跨国生产政治”的分析框架探讨这种剥削关系的形成机制。雇主和移工围绕加班工资展开博弈，而外劳制度对移工权利的限制及其赋予雇主的权力、不同国族移工的竞争以及跨国劳务中介的选择性庇护，使移工无论反抗还是消极服从，都可能面临加班福利缩减、加班机会丧失甚至工作丢失的困境。这种跨国生产体制具有“市场专制”性质，而外劳制度限制、资方对外劳制度缝隙的利用、全球过剩的劳动力市场、拆分型劳动力再生产体制共同体现了国际合同劳工面临的跨国生产政治，成为发达资本主义国家资本强制剥削再度出现的重要机制。