Most migrant workers in cities unhappy
ByPray for China’s HUGE migrant worker population. Not only are they facing incredibly hard living circumstances, they are also difficult to share the good news with.
Only 7.6 percent of migrant workers eking out a living in the country’s cities are satisfied with their lives, a recent survey by Shanghai’s Fudan University showed.
The survey, which polled 30,000 migrant workers in major Chinese cities, found that 68 percent believed the urbanites did not fully accept the workers – if at all.
There are about 200 million migrant workers across the country, filling up positions in urban areas that urbanites reportedly shun and amid a growing income gap between rich and poor.
The survey also showed that working overtime was common for migrant workers – more than 80 percent worked over eight hours a day and 18 percent labored more than 10 hours. Only 16.4 percent of those polled had more than five days a month off, while 55 percent had less than two days off.
Working overtime with few holidays made migrant workers tire easily and could cause accidents, researchers said.
Exhaustion also meant migrant workers had little time to study and in turn led to fewer job opportunities, the study showed. All these factors made migrant workers dissatisfied with their lives in cities, it concluded.
At the same time, the study showed that migrant workers’ incomes rose. Their average monthly wage reached 1,200 yuan ($165) last year, a year-on-year increase of 200 yuan.
Still, 22.2 percent of migrant workers were unable to save money because their incomes were just enough to cover living expenses. About 44.6 percent said they hoped to continue to work in cities, while 17 percent hoped to find jobs in Beijing or its surrounding areas.