Open the gate to welcome green hands

 

Cartoon by Gou Ben; Poem by Long Yuan

 

Flying a kite outside the gate,
Wishing to fly over the high wall but fails.
Uncompetitive because of a lack of skills.
Also it is hard to escape the rural label.
Being an outsider means less financial support,
Leading to disharmony between urban and rural cultures.
Though a major social group of migrants,
The youth are overburdened by social disengagement.
The city gate needs to open to welcome the green hands.
Only a sense of belonging can help them to stand.

 

Note: The migrant population in China has been constantly increasing, and it amounted to 269 million in 2013. Compared with the pre-1980s and post-1980s generations, members of the post-1990s generation, who account for a growing proportion of the migrant population, face more difficulties in assimilating into urban life, which requires countermeasures from the whole society.

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Among the growing number of Chinese who have left the countryside for large cities, the post-1990s generation constitutes a vital component of the migrant population. How they have integrated into cities is not only a gauge of the new model of urbanization but also a decisive factor in social stability. However, compared with their predecessors, namely the pre-1980s and post-1980s generations, they face more difficulties assimilating into urban life, a national survey on the migrant population has revealed.

New motivations
Conducted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission in 2014, the survey found that the post-1990s migrant population has new characteristics.
 

The population of post-1990s migrants was estimated to be more than 40 million based on the total migrant population of 2013, which is 269 million. In other words, post-1990s migrants accounted for 16 percent of the total migrant population.
 

Also, the study found that their reasons for abandoning the countryside are becoming more diverse. Previously, Chinese migrants largely came to cities to improve their economic prospects, but now social and developmental factors are being considered as well. Of the pre-1980s and the post-1980s cohorts, 91.3 percent and 88.7 percent, respectively, migrated for economic reasons, while 78 percent of post-1990s migrants are economically motivated.
 

Poor integration
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 derived through a proper statistical method, ranging from zero to 100 points. The higher the index is, the higher the degree of integration.

The post-1990s migrant generation, as a whole, has achieved a low degree of integration into cities. The general integration index for post-1990s migrants is 43.9 points, lower than the numbers for those born before 1980 and between 1980 and 1990. Because they are young and from the countryside, they tend to be marginalized.
 

Furthermore, their shaky economic foundation has impeded their development. Their economic status is unstable due to poor housing conditions, low incomes as well as a lack of job credentials and social security. This population tends to have the most difficulty achieving job security and has the fewest opportunities to enjoy the benefits of economic and social achievements, thus the effect of accumulated advantage hinders their integration in other aspects.
 

In addition, there are few channels for them to participate in the social structure. Judging from social acceptance indices, such as social networks, community participation and political participation, inflow areas accepted only a small number of them, which also indicates that they tend to be isolated from other social groups.
 

Many post-1990s migrants show willingness to work with, befriend, marry and live alongside locals. They seek permanent residence and wish to be able to integrate into cities, but the reality often fails their beautiful wish.
 

Institutional obstacles
The post-1990s migrant population faces the following difficulties in integrating into cities.
 

Institutional rejection is one major hurdle for migrants. The hukou system, which confers certain rights on Chinese citizens based on where they were born, has divided residents of inflow areas into locals and outsiders while classifying the migrant population into urban-to-urban and rural-to-urban migrants. Post-1990s migrant workers from rural areas have been rejected in three ways.
 

As outsiders, they lack access to pubic services and social welfare. As rural people, they are discriminated against due to their disadvantages in terms of growth and education. As young people, they struggle to compete with elders in employment and social capital based on their inexperience.

The lack of human capital and formal career training are also two reasons why post-1990s migrants are having trouble integrating. Only one-tenth of the post-1990s migrant population holds a junior college degree or above. Of rural-to-urban post-1990s migrants, only 8.7 percent received higher education, 6 percentage points higher than the pre-1980s generation and 6 percentage points lower than the post-1980s. Some 28 percent of them have taken part in technical training of various levels and kinds, slightly lower than the pre-1980s and post-1980s. Only 10 percent of post-1990s migrant workers have participated in free vocational training programs launched by the government. Worse still, these training programs made no difference in terms of their comprehensive qualities and development capacities.
 

Another hurdle is posed by unreasonable occupational structure, low employment quality and excessively long labor hours. Most of the post-1990s migrant population worked in low-end services, manufacturing and construction industries for six days per week and approximately 10 hours per day. Hard labor and harsh working conditions have cut them off from the outside world, hindering them from knowing about urban life and interacting with locals, and depriving them of opportunities to receive vocational training.
 

To make matters worse, local residents are indifferent. Social integration entails not only efforts of the migrant population, but also acceptance from locals. The survey found that about 20 percent of post-1990s migrants felt they were disliked, rejected and even discriminated against by locals.
 

This sentiment has dampened their confidence in and hopes of assimilating into cities. The divisions between locals and migrants have made it difficult for the migrant population to settle down and foster a sense of belonging and identity.

Suggestions
A few measures can be taken to promote social integration of the post-1990s migrant population.
 

According to the survey, post-1990s migrants, especially migrant workers, were found to be poor at integration, but they are at an advantageous age to enhance their integration ability. Skill training is the most important way to upgrade human capital, which can help the post-1990s migrant population improve job status, increase incomes and boost confidence about assimilating into city life.
 

Moreover, efforts should be focused on improving the effects of the training. The real needs of the group should be considered to raise their interest in training.
 

Another measure is to open more channels for integration. Communities are footholds of migrants and their families, so it is important to effectively integrate government, corporate and social resources in communities, thereby launching various community activities to intensify social services and promote integration.
 

However, the activities should not be confined to the migrant population but cover local citizens as well to encourage the participation of multiple groups. Only in this way can inter-group communication and cooperative platforms be effectively established to deepen mutual understanding and emotional exchange between migrants and local citizens, eliminate indifferent attitudes and behaviors and build rich, harmonious interpersonal relations.
 

It is necessary to ensure the post-1990s migrant group has equal rights to organizational and political participation, including the right to join labor unions, participate in elections and engage in community management activities. Either government or non-governmental organizations can take the lead in setting up a bridge between migrants and community management to provide flexible, diverse channels for them to express their concerns and appeals, thus cultivating senses of ownership and responsibility.
 

A more welcoming community should be built, opening to the post-1990s migrant population with care and love. A care mechanism can be put in place to treat them like friends. Most of the post-1990s migrants are singles far away from their parents, without a social network or support in the city. They inevitably feel depressed, lost, upset and anxious, highlighting the need for care and love from the communities that are receiving them.
 

Public services and welfare should also be equalized. Integration of the highest kind is achieved when migrants begin to identify themselves as locals and regard the communities where they relocate as their homes. So gradual efforts should be made to incorporate qualified migrants into the publicly subsidized housing system and have basic public services and welfare cover the whole migrant population.
 

In addition, it is also feasible to help them reunite with their family in inflow areas. The gap between ideal and reality should be bridged to strengthen their identification with and sense of belonging in inflow cities, thus realizing the transition from migration to settling. Once they are settled, they will be valuable resources for sustainable economic and social development.
 

Yang Juhua is a professor from the Population Development Studies Center at Renmin University of China.