Migrant workers prefer mega-cities: survey

To go home or stay? For China's migrant workers, the Lunar New Year is not just a time for reunion, but also a time to reconsider where to work in the new year.

Of the millions of migrant workers who return home for the holiday, some decide to settle down in their hometowns and never return, but most said they plan to come back to the cities where they work.

According to an online survey conducted by China Youth Daily, 80.5 percent of 8,672 participants said they prefer jobs in mega-cities.

Favorable prospects and well-paid jobs were the most-cited reasons behind the preference for mega-cities, and first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou were the most popular.

Li Haiyang, who has worked four years as a hairdresser in Beijing, said he came to China's capital for the plentiful opportunities and a chance to hone his skills. "Now (my situation) is way better than when I first came here."

Li's home is in Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province, about 200 kilometers from Beijing. He has occasionally entertained the idea of going back home, but fears there would not be many clients for him there.

However, migrant workers face another plight when they choose the city's modernity and convenience. High living costs, left-behind parents and children's education were cited as the most concerning problems for city-dwelling migrant workers.

Zheng Guanghuai, a scholar from Nanjing University who focuses on China's social policy, said China's small towns and cities need to provide better public services if they want to see a return of migrant workers, as small cities do not offer better pay than mega-cities.

However hard urban life may be, it seems that migrant workers are willing to sacrifice some well-being to earn more money in cities.

Forty-three-year-old Liu Wu and his wife now work in Beijing. Far away in their hometown in southwest China's Sichuan Province, their parents have been taking care of their child, who is now a primary school student.

"I can only see my kid during his summer vacation because I sometimes don't even go back home during the Spring Festival holidays," said Liu, who now lives in a suburban rental home for 150 yuan (about 24.8 U.S. dollars) per month.

At last December's central urbanization work conference, China's leadership noted that the primary task of China's urbanization drive is to enable migrant workers to win urbanite status in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, small cities and towns still fail to retain migrant workers due to disadvantages in infrastructure, social security and economic environment.

According to the survey, most workers will only consider the option of coming home if they are able to earn at least as much in their hometowns as they do in cities. Social security and children's education were also cited as important factors.

About 88 percent of the participants in the survey were from the "post-1980" and "post-1990" generations.