Opinion | China’s ‘common prosperity’ can start by addressing discrimination against migrant workers
- China’s economic boom in the last several years owes a huge debt to the nation’s migrant workforce, and it’s time for that backbone to receive greater support
- Migrant workers earned an average monthly income of nearly half what urban residents in non-private-sector jobs earned last year
By China’s own data, its migrant workers earned an average monthly income of 4,072 yuan (US$631) a month last year, or about half of the average salary of 7,541 yuan per month for urban residents in “non-private-sector employment”.
To make matters worse, the income gap is only part of the picture.
In fact, the term “migrant worker” itself reflects structural discrimination against domestic migration, particularly for those with rural backgrounds. Although wages for migrant workers have been rising quickly in recent years thanks to a labour shortage, and while many small Chinese cities have opened their doors to domestic migration, widespread discrimination of migrant workers still exists in big cities, further impeding their pursuit of prosperity.