Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2014, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (5): 88-104.

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The LeftBehind Experience and Job Mobility of the New Workers: How the System of Migrant Worker Jeopardizes Itself

WANG Jianhua, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences；HUANG Binhuan, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University   

  • Online:2014-09-20 Published:2014-09-20
  • Contact: WANG Jianhua E-mail:wjhmcg@163.com
  • Supported by:
    This paper was supported by the research project “Protecting Rights of Migrant Workers: Theories and Practices”（09JZD0032）sponsored by Philosophy and Social Sciences Foundation from Ministry of Education of China.

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Abstract:

This paper criticizes the isolation status of the problem consciousness of two research areas, which are “migrant worker studies” and “leftbehind children studies”. When discussing the inner contradiction of the system of migrant worker, relevant studies have placed their emphasis on the growing experience of the new generation of migrant workers, but ignored the effects of their leftbehind experience. When studying the problem of leftbehind children, most studies have focused on the microinfluence on the children’s education, health and personality, but rarely extended it to the macroinfluence on the process of urbanization and industrialization. By analyzing survey data of “Protecting Rights of Migrant Workers: Theories and Practices”, this paper attempts to establish a correlation between these two areas. The results show that compared to their peer group, new workers with leftbehind experience change their jobs more frequently. Modeling by distinguishing different types of jobs, the difference in job mobility frequency between workers with leftbehind experience and those without  in the manual job model and the nonskilled job model, are larger than the nonmanual job model and the skilled and semiskilled job model respectively, which indicates that it is more difficult for workers with leftbehind experience to adapt to the high intensity and the alienated labor process in the World Factory. Parents’ migration not only results in the parentchild separation and the weakness of the children’s sense of family duty, but also brings out more superior economic conditions and few farming experience, They jointly increase the frequency of job mobility of workers with leftbehind experience. Leftbehind children is the product of the system of migrant workers, and to a certain degree it aggravates the crisis of the further development of the system. The solution of the system crisis lies in gradually granting citizenship to migrant workers and restoring their family life. 

Key words: job mobility,  leftbehind experience, system of migrant worker, new workers