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Inside China
SCMP Spotlight: migrant workers who helped transform China now struggling to survive
Oct 17, 2023
This podcast explores the challenges and struggles faced by migrant workers in China, including the unequal distribution of benefits, poor living conditions, lack of retirement options, and limited job opportunities. It highlights the disparities between rural and urban workers in terms of pensions and medical insurance coverage. The podcast also sheds light on the difficulties encountered by migrant workers in accessing social security and the setbacks they have faced amidst Beijing's poverty reduction efforts.
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Quick takeaways
- China's migrant workers, who played a crucial role in the country's economic transformation, face unequal distribution of benefits and precarious working conditions, leaving them struggling to make a living and access public services and welfare.
- Elderly migrant workers in China suffer from inequalities in the pension system, limited access to social benefits, deteriorating physical health, and significantly lower pay compared to urban workers, leaving them in a precarious situation without equal access to public services and better pensions.
Deep dives
Migrant Workers Struggle for Economic Prosperity
China's economic transformation has led to significant development in cities like Zengen, but many migrant workers, like Gung, have not experienced corresponding improvements in their lives. Despite working in low-paying jobs, such as package delivery, Gung earns barely enough to cover his basic needs. Urgent medical bills threaten to push him into insolvency. The situation is not unique to Gung, as hundreds of millions of migrant workers have struggled to make a living and faced challenges accessing public services and welfare. The push for 'common prosperity' in China aims to address these inequalities and provide greater social equality, but some migrant workers, especially the elderly, continue to be left behind.
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