Many migrants hope to settle in city

More than 40 percent of migrant workers polled in a recent survey said they would like to settle in Shanghai, the city's statistics bureau said Monday.

The survey polled 340 respondents, who on average have lived in Shanghai for seven years and eight months, according to the Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau. More than 99 percent of respondents have worked in Shanghai over the past three years.

Apart from Shanghai, nearly 13 percent of respondents said they hoped to settle down in cities close to their hometowns. More than 33 percent said they wanted to stay in cities to take advantage of their social welfare systems.

Another 30 percent wanted to live in a city so their children could receive a better education. About 25 percent said living in a city would improve their quality of life.

For those who wanted to settle in Shanghai, about 26 percent were ignorant of the policies governing local residency permits for migrants.

The survey identified several factors that could pose difficulties for migrant workers who want to settle in the city, such as their ignorance of the city's policies over home purchasing and social welfare.

Among those who knew something about the policies, about 51 percent were familiar with home purchasing policies and 48 percent knew how many years they have to pay into the social security system to qualify for retirement pensions.

Residents who don't have local household registrations must be married and have paid local taxes or social security for at least two years to buy a home in the city, according to local government regulations. And only those who pay into Shanghai's social security system for more than 15 years can qualify for a pension.

About 25 percent of respondents said they have been able to receive a pension in Shanghai. About 14 percent said they have qualified to buy an apartment in the city.

For the 36 percent who said they would like to leave Shanghai to return to their hometowns, one of the major reasons was their desire to retire in their native areas.