According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of migrant workers reached 268.94 million in 2013, accounting for around 20 percent of China’s total population.

The scale of China’s floating population has been continuously growing over the past three decades. According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of migrant workers reached 268.94 million in 2013, accounting for around 20 percent of China’s total population.

In many southeast coastal cities, the floating population even exceeds that of the registered population. However, the floating population remains hindered by unequal access to public services and social welfare. Their requirements for a stable income, social interaction and sense of self-identity also need to be addressed by innovating social governance and adopting a people-oriented path for urbanization.   

   
Test for social governance
It is of great significance to push forward social integration of the floating population.
 

Firstly, social integration is an important foundation for maintaining social stability and harmony. Currently, the mode of “floating” is transferring from individual to whole family migration, from short-time stints to long-term residence.
 

“Drifting” people are eager to assimilate into local life instead of returning to their hometowns. However, most of them can neither return to their hometowns nor integrate into cities due to existing hukou (household registration) restrictions. Mass integration may contribute to effectively dealing with grass-roots instability and preventing the major risk of social unrest, achieving long-term peace and order of society.   
 

Secondly, social integration is necessary to promote new-type urbanization. In 2013, the rate of urbanization reduced to 35 percent if drifting people who cannot enjoy identical treatment were excluded. The core purpose of new-type urbanization is to realize a “people-oriented” mode and push forward “citizenization” of the floating population. Promoting integration of the floating population is therefore a necessary measure to advance new-type urbanization.

Thirdly, social integration is a basic safeguard for enhancing transformation of the economic development mode. Pushing forward social integration of the floating population and strengthening their sense of belonging and identity in inflow cities is beneficial to consolidating human resources. It will also provide a social basis for bolstering strategic adjustment of the economic structure, breaking through the bottleneck of sustainable development of economic society.
 

Finally, social integration provides a scientific basis for intensifying and innovating social governance. Problems and dilemmas in social integration of the floating population serve as a factual basis for innovating social governance. The level of their integration can test the effect of social governance innovation. Dealing with the most complex social problem in the process of urbanization marks a breakthrough in realizing innovation of social governance.

Poor integration among youths
Social integration covers four dimensions: income, social interaction, cultural assimilation and psychological identification. Sub-indices of the four dimensions and a general index can be formed in a proper statistical method, ranging from zero to 100 points. In 2014, a survey of 30,000 respondents from eight cities by the National Health and Family Planning Commission found that the level of integration of the floating population was very low, severely hindering new-type urbanization.
 

The survey indicated that the total index of social integration was about 65 points, with integration processes at different paces in different fields. “Drifting” people were willing to merge into inflow areas and assimilate into local culture and conventions. However, they had poor social insurance, unstable incomes and low levels of interaction with local hukou residents. These factors resulted in multiple barriers emerging between the two groups.

Youths from the post-1990s generation in the floating population were found to be poor at social integration, as reflected in three aspects. Post-1990s migrant workers had the lowest level of integration, with a total index of less than 60 points. This was lower than those who were born before 1980 and between 1980 and 1990.
 

As young people, they struggle to compete with elder counterparts in employment and social capital based on their inexperience; as people from rural areas, they cannot compare with people floating between urban areas and local hukou residents due to their disadvantages in growth and education. They suffer from discrimination as outsiders, lacking access to public services and social welfare.

A lack of human and social capital among ethnic minorities within the floating population results in them facing even higher integration hurdles. The level of integration among ethnic minorities in the economy, society, culture and mentality is lower than Han people in the floating population. Their comprehensive index was less than 60 points, about seven points lower than that of Han floating people. Some cannot enter major labor markets due to their low human capital and insufficient labor skills. Cultural integration is also hard to realize due to difficulty in spoken communication and religious customs that pose further social barriers. 
 

The trans-provincial floating population has to cope with a bottleneck in social interaction and psychological identification. In economically developed regions, the floating population enjoys stable incomes despite lower degrees of social, cultural and mental integration. In economically underdeveloped regions, incomes fluctuate for the floating population but this has minimal impact on cultural and mental integration.
 

Masses of people leave for eastern cities with developed economies and more employment opportunities, drawn by promising prospects. The trans-provincial floating population has maximized spatial influence and obstacles in systems are hard to overcome.

New-type urbanization
Measures can be made to promote social integration of floating population.

Firstly, the level of social integration can be taken as a measurement index of new-type industrialization through intensifying scientific research and perfecting evaluation systems. We should fully utilize the role of think tanks at home and abroad. The indicator system of social integration should be perfected to form an integration index with evaluation and diagnostic functions, which can measure social progress and reveal a bigger picture than just GDP.
 

Meanwhile, we should regularly evaluate levels of integration nationwide and compare different areas, analyzing the situation and problems of integration of the floating population, assessing effects of relevant policies and measures, providing timely and accurate information, and serving society by guiding its comprehensive development.
 

Secondly, we need to establish communicative carriers and dialogue platforms to enhance interaction and inclusiveness among people. We may organize classes with flexible forms and rich contents or carry out integration publicity, introducing local culture and customs via modern media such as text messages and TV public service advertisements.
 

Mass activities can be organized for local citizens and “drifting” people to jointly participate in to enhance mutual understanding and emotional communication between the two sides, expand social networks of “drifting” people, and promote their interest and passion in community participation. We should ensure “drifting” people can equally enjoy rights by joining labor unions and Party organizations, and participating in election campaigns to build dialogue platforms between “floating” people and community governance to provide them with various ways of interest expression and appeal channels.

Thirdly, we need to focus on vulnerable groups to promote overall integration of the floating population.There are great differences in integration levels between different groups. For example, most of the post-1990s generation is unmarried. They are apt to confusion and insecurity due to isolation from their families and lack of social networks and social support. The local government may provide them with consultation in aspects such as psychology, relationships, interpersonal communication, daily life and employment via counseling services.
 

Fourthly, different management policies are needed for promotion of integration in different cities. There are a large number of “drifting” people in eastern cities, most of whom are from other provinces or regions. The scale of the floating population is small in central and western regions, and most of them migrate within their own regions.
 

More convenience should be provided for floating people in eastern cities to help them reunite with families and intensify their sense of identity and belonging, accelerating the transition from “floating” to “settling.” Central and western cities should promote capacity and vitality of economic development, facilitate infrastructure construction and reduce the outflow of high-quality workers to preserve vitality for the sustainable development of local economic society.
 

Yang Juhua is an associate professor from the School of Sociology and Population Studies at Renmin University of China.