Post on 30-Dec-2015
The Migrant and the Household:Understanding China’s Floating Population
C. Cindy Fan
Department of Geography, UCLA
July 11, 2007
Level of urbanization
1982 21%
2006 43%
2015 > 50%
Rural-urban migration – main source of urban growth
Volume of intercounty migration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1990 census 2000 census
Mill
ion
Interprovincial
Intraprovincial 41%
59%33%
67%
Volume of intercountypermanent and temporary migration
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1990 census 2000 census
Mill
ion
PermanentTemporary 26%
74%
54%
46%
Floating population (stock measure)
• individuals not living at the place of registration (hukou location)
Early 1980s 30 million
Early to mid-1990s 70-80 million
2005 150 million
2015 200 million (projected)
2025 250 million (projected)
“We will accelerate the establishment of a social safety net targeted at rural migrant workers in cities …”
-- Premier Wen Jiabao, March 5, 2007
Hukou – a sample of reforms and changes
1997 – hukou reforms in small towns and selected cities (stable job; legal place to stay)
1998 – new guidelines, including family reunification
2003 – directive affirming migrants’ rights to work
2007 – MPS report (legal place to stay)
*** Autonomy of city governments to establish own criteria ***
Household as a unit of analysis
Wallace (2002)• rapid social changes• more women in labor force• large informal economy
Conventional household strategy approach• economic reasoning
Non-economic factors• keeping family intact• power relations, gender hierarchy
New Economics of Migration theory
Permanent settlement paradigm
“There is nothing so permanent as a temporary migrant”
International migration
• non-permanent and circular migration increased
• the best of both worlds
• keeping family at the origin
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5-9 10-14
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80+
Mig
rati
on
rat
e (p
er 1
00 p
op
ula
tio
n) 1990: female
1990: male
2000: female
2000: male
Fig. 5.1. Gender differentials in age-specific interprovincial migration rate, 1990 and 2000 censuses.
Social security and obligations
• Maintain close ties
• Obligations to parents
• Supporting children
Will rural migrants stay in the city or return to the countryside?
Mixed evidence
Sichuan and Anhui Study
• 1995
• 2005
Division of labor Economic security Social securityCity Countryside
1995
30 year-old, husband, migrant work since 1985
Wife farms and takes care of 4 and 2 year-olds
Remittances for agricultural input and living expenses; returns for harvesting
Returns for Spring Festival yearly
200540 year-old, husband
Wife farms and takes care of 14 and 12 year-olds
Remittances for old-age security
Returns for Spring Festival yearly; installed telephone in 1997, calls every week; remittances for children's education (must finish senior secondary)
Household 1
1995:
“Migrant work is not a long-term solution. After several years I’ll return.”
2005:
“I cannot take the children with me [to the city]. School is too expensive there. … I live at the construction site. If my wife and children go there, we will have to rent a place … they stay home mainly because of financial consideration. … Another reason why we don’t settle down in the city is my work is unpredictable. … When there is no new construction work, everybody will have to return.”
Seasonal migration and circularity
“I began migrant work in 1983. After getting married in
1984, I stayed home to farm for two years. In 1987, I worked in a coal mine. Then, between 1988 and 1990, I stayed home to farm and build a house. I began migrant work again in 1991. Every year, I returned home before the Spring Festival and helped with planting before going out again. In 2004, I stayed home to farm. My wife went out that year.”
Household 2
Division of labor Economic security Social securityCity Countryside
1995
22 year-old, husband, migrant work since 1989
Wife takes care of infant; grandparents farm
Remittances to build house
Returns for Spring Festival yearly
2005
32 year-old, husband, and 30 year-old, wife
Grandparents farm and take care of 11-year old child
Remittances for future use
Return only once every 3-4 years; installed telephone in 2002
Household 3
Division of labor Economic security Social securityCity Countryside
1995Husband, since 1983
Wife farms and takes care of two young children
Remittances for agricultural input and to build house; returns for planting
Returns for Spring Festival yearly
2005Husband and wife, in different cities None Land leased to others
Earnings for daughters' education in boarding school
1995:
“ Dagong is great, but it is not a long-term solution. People like us … I have a wife, children, and a house; I will eventually return to farm.”
2005:
“Our whole lives, we will be peasants (nongmin). Our hukou is in the village, our land is in the village. … Cities are, of course, great. But we cannot afford to think about that … maybe in another 8 or 10 years. First, we must earn enough money for our daughters’ education. … If they are admitted into top universities and have their hukou moved there, then they may be considered urban people.”
Household 4
Division of labor Economic security Social securityCity Countryside
199543 year-old, husband Wife farms
Remittances to build house; returns during busy farming season
Returns for Spring Festival yearly
2005 Son-in-law
husband; wife; 25 year-old daughter with infant
Farming; including land leased from others
Takes care of grandchild if daughter joins son-in-law
25 year-old daughter, 2005:
“ I am a village person (nongcunren). I don’t know if I am considered a peasant (nongmin). I don’t know how to farm, and I don’t like farming. My parents are aging, so I may have to learn to farm. In the future, I will probably live in the village to take care of my parents. … I like quiet places; there is less pollution in the countryside.”