CRI听力:Care for Second Generation of Rural Migrant Workers

A recent government report shows that China's population of floating migrant workers reached a record 211 million by 2009. Nearly 100 million of them are second generation rural workers who have been labeled the "new generation of migrant workers." Although born and brought up in cities, the new migrant workers are still not entitled to the same rights as their urban counterparts. Zhang Ru has more.


Over the past 30 years, hundreds of millions of rural migrant workers have helped to contribute to China's economic growth.

Now many of the first generation of rural migrant workers born in the 1960s or 1970s are returning home to retire.

Attention is turning to their children widely known as the "second generation of migrant workers."

Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor at Peking University, says compared with their parents, most members of the new generation are more reluctant to return to the countryside.

"Most of the second generation of migrant workers has been brought up in cities. Compared with their rural counterparts, they have superiority both materially and spiritually. So their desire to become urban residents is stronger than that of their predecessors."

They are also better educated than their parents, and have higher expectations for social equity.

But Peng Xizhe, Director of the Institute of Population Research at Fudan University, says this group faces some problems their parents never encountered.

"Although most of them are not brought up in rural areas, they still have not been accepted by the city's mainstream culture. So they are in a state of floating with no roots either in villages or in urban areas."

Xia Xueluan says their special status could be a double-edged sword.

"Because of their status, some of them are too vulnerable to adapt to society. But some will change the pressure into motivation to create themselves a better life."

Currently, migrant workers are unable to enjoy the same social welfare benefits, educational resources and job opportunities as urban residents because of the current household registration system, or hukou.

Peng Xizhe urges the government to make more efforts to help young migrant workers blend into society.

"The government should provide more educational opportunities for them. Also, since it may take a long time to reform China's hukou system, the government should unify the rural-urban labor market and increase rural migrant workers' income."

Earlier this year, the central government's No. 1 policy said it was determined to solve the problems facing the new generation of migrant workers.

For CRI, I'm Zhang Ru.