China’s first generation of migrant workers played an integral role in the country's transformation from an impoverished nation to an economic powerhouse.

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.

    • @TheFonzEnglish
      -18•9 months ago

      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:

      They often look and behave like private enterprises, but their ownership pattern may involve a considerable government stake. To complicate matters further, in the official statistics, they may be counted either in the state-owned or in the private sector, -Witt, 2010

        • @TheFonzEnglish
          -5•9 months ago

          China is absolutely not a capitalist economy in the same manner most western nations are, and anyone disagreeing is just misinformed. China is a mixed socialist market economy with the government directing development towards certain sectors. Hence why they built a national high speed rail system that is largely unused and other similar projects. That being said, there is no reason they couldn’t implement a pension system.

          • @stellargmiteEnglish
            6•9 months ago

            Go check it out yourself dude. My experience is quite different to what is so often reported - such as your point about the high speed rail. The complaints the people using it make are valid (its very experience for example) but it is far from unused. Getting on the things are almost always a gladatorial survival experience, and there are people standing (or sitting on their bags) in the aisles. All anecdotal of course. I guess your point is to do with the absolute control the state (likes to think it) has, including with large vanity engineering projects, the zero rule of law, loose and unfair regulation if any, zero workers rights and so in. All things which give most shareholders of multinationals a huge case of genital envy. The place is beyond hyper consumeristic. None of our concepts or categories apply neatly, because the place , much like the world, is massive, complex, and diverse, with many challenges. If anything I think of it as authoritarian capitalism. True socialist concepts are long gone in actual practice there.

            • @TheFonzEnglish
              3•9 months ago

              Thanks for sharing your experience. This jives a lot with what I’ve also heard. When I use the word “socialism” I’m not speaking from a leninist theory point but rather the way contemporary economists use to describe planned economies. I don’t think China is ‘socialist’ in the classical sense. I’m speaking strictly through economic theory and how the state operates through SOEs (state owned enterprises) and hybrid business partnerships between the state and the private sector. That’s all 🙂

              • @stellargmiteEnglish
                2•9 months ago

                Understood . Pretty fascinating as a (many times) visitor. But glad its somewhere I could leave for greener pastures. Many there wish they could do the same I’m sure.

      • @[email protected]English
        5•9 months ago

        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

        • @TheFonzEnglish
          1•9 months ago

          Is social security not around any more?

          • @RagingRobotEnglish
            1•9 months ago

            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.

            • @[email protected]English
              2•9 months ago

              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

            • @TheFonzEnglish
              -1•9 months ago

              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.

      • katy ✨English
        3•9 months ago

        china hasn’t been socialist since the 70s when the ruling party rejected it

        • @TheFonzEnglish
          1•9 months ago

          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.