At 53, Guan Junling is too old to get hired at factories anymore. But for migrant workers like her, not working is not an option.
For decades, they have come from farming villages to find work in the cities. Toiling in sweatshops and building apartment complexes they could never afford to live in, they played a vital role in China’s transformation into an economic powerhouse.
As they grow older, the first generation of migrant workers is struggling to find jobs in a slowing economy. Many are financially strapped, so they have to keep looking.
“There is no such thing as a ‘retirement’ or ‘pensions’ for rural people. You can only rely on yourself and work,” Guan said. “When can you stop working? It’s really not until you have to lie in bed and you can’t do anything.”
She now relies on housecleaning gigs, working long days to squirrel away a little money in case of a health emergency. Migrant workers can get subsidized health care in their hometowns, but they have little or no coverage elsewhere. If Guan needs to go to hospital in Beijing, she has to pay out of pocket.
As China’s population ages, so are its migrant workers. About 85 million were over 50 in 2022, the latest year for which data is available, accounting for 29% of all migrant workers and up from 15% a decade earlier. With limited or no pensions and health insurance, they need to keep working.
If only they had capitalism. /s
Do you think China runs a …capitalist economy? Last I checked, lack of pensions is not an issue in the US.
Edit: for all the triggered ml users: Socialist market economy
China is absolutely not a free capitalist country and I don’t know where you guys get this idea. Last I checked, the western capitalist economies do not have governments that set five year plans and funnel economic development into distinct economic sectors.
2nd Edit: I’m not saying China is a socialist country in the classic sense. I’m using terms used by contemporary economists in terms of how they classify china’s economy. While a big chunk of china’s economy is private the government still plays a pivotal role in planning certain aspects of the economy.
3rd edit: to everyone downvoting, please tell me with a straight face that the entire private sector in China runs completely free of all interference from any governmental actors? Or maybe provide a counter to the general consensus among current economists. Is there something you know that they don’t? 😐
4th edit: State Owned Enterprises in china own 22% of the labor force (as recently as 2010). In addition to state owned enterprises, also know as SOEs, the state dips its toes in hybrid business:
401k! = pension.
Also with the rise in companies going to contractors instead of full time staff there’s a not even a guarantee you’ll get a 401k
Is social security not around any more?
Not a pension either
Oh? What is it? What should the first google results tell me?
That it’s an insurance program
It’s not adequate to live on that alone. Also it’s projected to not have enough money in the future.
Also people who have 401ks often find it hard to contribute a lot of money to it.
There are all kinds of issues with retirement in America already. You act like we are all living it up over here lol.
Would only run out of money because of limits to how much is taxed and the Republicans wanting to be able to raid it more
Oh wow. Did I ever claim SS was adequate? You guys here reaching trying to ascribe all kinds of things to me that I did not say. Have a discussion. Listen to other people.
China is the goal capitalists elsewhere try to achieve
china hasn’t been socialist since the 70s when the ruling party rejected it
I’m not calling it socialist in the classical sense. Yes, there was a big shift in 78 to open up the markets to western economies and privatize heavily. I’m only expressing myself according to the way contemporary economists classify china. The truth is the government still plays a pivotal role in directing certain aspects of the economy. That’s why they were able to build some of the biggest infrastructure projects in the last century. There are entire cities that were built up in days.
fair point!