Occupational Attainments of Rural to Urban Temporary Economic Migrants in China, 1985–1990

Abstract

Since the inauguration of reform in 1978, a large number of Chinese peasants were released from agricultural production and became “surplus labor.” Because a large proportion of rural-urban population mobility assumes the form of temporary movement, attention to such movement is therefore essential to any assessment of social, economic and political changes in urban and rural China and of the overall urbanization process. The present study uses the 1 percent sample of the 1990 census data of China to study long-term rural to urban temporary economic migrants, the provincial pattern and variation of these migrants, and their economic activities represented by the occupational attainments in cities in comparison with urban residents.

Occupational segregation and earnings inequality: Rural migrants and local workers in urban China

“…Rural migrants' earnings disadvantage could result from the fact that they are allocated to lower-paid occupations and sectors (Yang and Guo, 1996). Because migrant workers tend to have less human capital such as education, skills and work experience, their access to occupations with better economic rewards and prestige is often limited (Li, 2006;Wu, 2009;Xie, 2007) .…”

“…Moreover, some city governments in China have instituted various employment regulations to shield their local residents from having to compete with migrants for jobs (Knight, Song and Jia, 1999), especially since the mid-1990s, when lay-offs by state-owned enterprises and urban unemployment became increasingly common (Cai, Du and Wang, 2001). 1 Such exclusionary policy based on hukou has often relegated rural migrants to the physically demanding, low-skilled, and potentially hazardous occupations that urban locals are reluctant to take (Knight, Song and Jia, 1999;Wang, Zuo and Ruan, 2002;Yang and Guo, 1996). If individual attributes and occupations were taken into account, as some analysts have shown, rural migrants' earnings disadvantages would significantly decrease or disappear in urban labor markets (Li and Li, 2007;Wu, 2009).…”

Key natural impacting factors of China’s human population distribution

“…As we mentioned in our introduction part, the population distribution can be influenced by many other factors besides natural characteristics. The economic development (Yang & Guo, 1996;Zhu, Gu, Ma, Zhen, & Zhang, 2001), social development Zhang & Song, 2003;Li, 2001;Shen, 1996), environmental projects (Tan & Wang, 2004), distance from transportation infrastructures (Li, 2004;Zhu, 1980) are also very important factors in determining population distribution. To explore what factors other than natural factors contribute most significantly to the over-dense population (in regions with Fig.…”

Population migration and children’s school enrollments in China, 1990–2005

“…Most existing literature on internal migration in China focuses on the demographic patterns of migration and the socioeconomic consequences for migrants and community development (e.g. Liang 2001;Liang and White 1996;Ma 2001;Yang and Guo 1996;Zhao 2000). Few studies pay attention to the well-being of migrant children (for exceptions, see Lee and Park 2010;Liang and Chen 2002;Lu and Zhou 2013;Yang and Ni 2012).…”

“…They also miss out on employment opportunities that are reserved for local urban permanent residents. The only jobs they are eligible to apply for are the temporary, undesirable, and menial ones (Wang, Zuo and Ruan 2002;Yang and Guo 1996;Roberts 1997). They must pay extra to go to the hospital, to rent an apartment, or to have their children attend local schools (Cai 2002, p215).…”