4% of migrant workers suffer wage default

About 4 percent of 10,710 migrant workers said their employers had defaulted on payment, according to an official survey.

Migrant workers in the construction business suffered most as 11.3 percent reported a default in wages. Among them half said their employers had dodged payment for at least six months, according to a National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) survey on Friday.

The NPFPC interviewed migrant workers in ten provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Guangdong, in January.

In the survey, 33.5 percent said their income in 2012 had slightly increased from 2011 while 46.9 percent reported no change.

About 11.7 percent said their income reduced in 2012 and 8 percent reported a big drop, the report said.

In addition, the survey showed that a majority of migrant workers preferred stability in employment. Only about 3 percent considered changing jobs after they returned from the Spring Festival holidays and 7.5 percent had not decided yet.