State Council signals concern over unrest as jobless workers go home
Martin Zhou 22 December 2008
Beijing yesterday urged local authorities to protect the rights and job prospects of the millions of migrant workers who are expected to return home after losing their jobs amid the economic slowdown, signalling the government’s growing fear of social instability.
The decree by the State Council was the latest in a flurry of policy initiatives rolled out over the past few weeks, aimed at defusing a potential crisis when coastal employers hit hard by a demand slump begin to lay off workers.
“The economic difficulties coupled with the approaching Lunar New Year break have created a massive exodus of workers from the cities to rural areas [and] caused new social problems,” the decree said, according to Xinhua.
The cabinet called for measures to help workers find jobs, including an appeal to rural governments to establish vocational schools to prepare them for re-employment.
It also encouraged employers to retain employees through flexible strategies such as staff rotation and paid training leave.
The document also made it clear that workers’ land ownership in their home provinces had to be protected and their medical expenses covered, although it did not say how.
The mainland had 130 million migrant workers at the end of 2006, according to the National Statistics Bureau.
Over the past few weeks, government officials have promised to increase agricultural subsidies, organised ad hoc job fairs and offered tax breaks to struggling companies to curb unemployment among migrant workers, a scenario they consider a precursor to social unrest in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the mainland will face an artificial surge in the number of its poor as the country redefines the poverty line, according to Caijing Magazine.
Liu Fuhe , a State Council poverty-relief official, told Caijing the government would synchronise its confusing double standards on impoverishment from next year.
The new poverty line would be set at an annual income of about 1,100 yuan (HK$1,250).
Currently there are two poverty lines used on the mainland. A family whose members earn on average between 786 yuan and 1,067 yuan a year are categorised as “relatively impoverished” while those earning less are “absolutely impoverished”.
The old rules have led to an underestimation of the number of poor people. Currently, slightly more than 14 million mainlanders, mostly rural residents, officially live in “absolute impoverishment”.
The statistics would soar to 43 million once the new yardstick was set, Caijing estimated.
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Cabinet Warns Authorities to Protect Migrants
State Council signals concern over unrest as jobless workers go home
Martin Zhou
22 December 2008
Beijing yesterday urged local authorities to protect the rights and job prospects of the millions of migrant workers who are expected to return home after losing their jobs amid the economic slowdown, signalling the government’s growing fear of social instability.
The decree by the State Council was the latest in a flurry of policy initiatives rolled out over the past few weeks, aimed at defusing a potential crisis when coastal employers hit hard by a demand slump begin to lay off workers.
“The economic difficulties coupled with the approaching Lunar New Year break have created a massive exodus of workers from the cities to rural areas [and] caused new social problems,” the decree said, according to Xinhua.
The cabinet called for measures to help workers find jobs, including an appeal to rural governments to establish vocational schools to prepare them for re-employment.
It also encouraged employers to retain employees through flexible strategies such as staff rotation and paid training leave.
The document also made it clear that workers’ land ownership in their home provinces had to be protected and their medical expenses covered, although it did not say how.
The mainland had 130 million migrant workers at the end of 2006, according to the National Statistics Bureau.
Over the past few weeks, government officials have promised to increase agricultural subsidies, organised ad hoc job fairs and offered tax breaks to struggling companies to curb unemployment among migrant workers, a scenario they consider a precursor to social unrest in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the mainland will face an artificial surge in the number of its poor as the country redefines the poverty line, according to Caijing Magazine.
Liu Fuhe , a State Council poverty-relief official, told Caijing the government would synchronise its confusing double standards on impoverishment from next year.
The new poverty line would be set at an annual income of about 1,100 yuan (HK$1,250).
Currently there are two poverty lines used on the mainland. A family whose members earn on average between 786 yuan and 1,067 yuan a year are categorised as “relatively impoverished” while those earning less are “absolutely impoverished”.
The old rules have led to an underestimation of the number of poor people. Currently, slightly more than 14 million mainlanders, mostly rural residents, officially live in “absolute impoverishment”.
The statistics would soar to 43 million once the new yardstick was set, Caijing estimated.
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