Download An Examination of Female Migration

The Transformation of Rural Women to Factory Workers in South China:
An Examination of Female Migration in a Developing Economy
Elizabeth Im Seon Roesser
College of the Holy Cross
Economics Honors Program
Spring 2005
_______________________
Since the 1980s, female migration in South China has been a leading cause of rapid industrial
growth. Young rural women have migrated away from their families to work in urban sectors in
order to gain money and independence. In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, rural women have
played a vital role in the development and industrialization of the economy. This paper
investigates the causes of rural-urban migration and its impact on a developing economy.
Closely examining one of the fastest growing economies in the world, this paper reviews
Shenzhen’s economic transformations from the 1980s to the present time and the impact of
female labor on industrialization. This study focuses on the important economic theories of
migration and the ways in which migration affects local and national economies. This study
examines how female migration has been a key component to Shenzhen’s rapid development and
raises questions on the ways in which processes of globalization and modernization affect
women socially, politically and economically.
1
Introduction
_____________
Migration from rural to urban sectors has been a continuing economic issue for
developing countries worldwide. The People’s Republic of China is one of several countries,
such as Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia that have experienced rapid economic growth
causing many rural people to move towards large cities, making urban areas increasingly large
industrial service centers. Rapid industrialization in South China is an important phenomenon to
explore because it has had significant effects on urban economic and social conditions. In
response to agricultural underdevelopment and the post-Mao Zedong economic reforms, rapid
female migration has significantly affected South China’s industrial labor force. In Shenzhen,
Guangdong Province, many young women have migrated from poor rural villages to find work
in large clothing and electronic factories on the coast. Each year thousands of young rural
women travel into what can be understood as the “Global Assembly Line” (Mills 2001 p.9). This
paper is a theoretical study of female rural-urban migration in South China, which examines
important economic theories of migration and its impact on local economies (Todaro 1969,
Harris &Todaro 1970). This investigation of rural-urban migration in South China identifies the
rising income inequalities between urban coastal and rural inland provinces and other important
economic and social factors that cause young women to move in and out of rural and urban
sectors. This study focuses on specific interests of migrant women and their vital role in
industrialization and urbanization.
The current influx of young women who migrate to work in factories is not only evident
in Asia, but throughout history and around the world. The work of young women has been
linked to industrial progress across many developing countries where there are production
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conditions characterized by low pay, high turnover and intensive high repetitive work processes
(Mills 2001). On the US and Mexico border, maquiladoras, or electronic factories, employ poor
young rural Mexican women to work for long hours with low wages (Ong 1999). In the United
States, the effect of the industrial revolution in the 1920s led poor New England families to send
their young daughters into textile mills to work in harmful conditions (Hareven 1982). In Japan,
transnational migration has helped the economy to grow as Brazilian and other illegal immigrant
workers fill unskilled labor jobs that Japanese citizens find undesirable (Goto 1998). This paper
will explore the ways in which the lives of young rural women have been affected both directly
and indirectly by economic reforms that encourage increased commodity production and a more
open market. By examining gendered patterns of labor recruitment in Asia, factors that influence
young Chinese women to migrate, and the treatment of migrant women by employers and
society, this paper reveals how rural-urban female migration in most developing countries has
positively and negatively affected local and national economies.
The following research explores how industry in China affects rural economies and the
ways in which migrant women experience globalization on local levels. Rapid industrialization
in the Free Trade Zones and Special Economic Zones provide places to work for “young single
Asian women, thus creating a new female industrial force where none had been envisioned”
(Ong 1991, p.281). Young rural migrant women have become the backbone of industrial growth
and their mobility has greatly affected both rural and urban economies. In considering China’s
experience of rapid industrialization and urbanization, this paper begins by reviewing China’s
enterprise reforms in the early 1980s and describes a brief background of Shenzhen’s conditions
prior to the economic transformations. Next, the examination of factors that push and pull rural
women to migrate suggests how labor recruitment in factories is largely feminized and therefore
3
is an obvious feature of recent industrial growth. Finally, this paper discusses how the industrial
experience of female migrants in China affects local rural and urban sectors. In considering the
factors that influence rural migrant Chinese women and examining how their migration affects
recent industrial growth, this study provides a discussion of broader issues of female migration
that is occurring worldwide and its important impact on developing economies.
The economic focus of female migration in South China is interesting and significant
because the growing Chinese economy relies heavily on industry, which is dependent on female
labor. This study complements previous works conducted on labor migration models for
developing countries (Todaro 1969, Harris & Todaro 1970, Lewis 1954) and on ethnographic
studies on women and factories in Asia (Ong 1987, 1999, Mills 2001, 2003) by offering an
evaluation of how globalization and industrialization affects young rural women and how
migration is a fundamental and necessary component of rapid urbanization and development.
Michael Todaro’s (1969) labor migration model suggests important factors that influence
migration and highlights the inability of urban economies to provide permanent jobs for many of
these workers. The work of Aihwa Ong (1987) and Mary Beth Mills (2001) are just a few of the
many cultural studies that focus on the local impacts of industrialization in Asia, which is
significant to economic research as human rights are easily threatened and taken advantage of
when global markets are opened. What follows is an examination of how female migration in
Shenzhen has significantly contributed to rapid economic development and as a result has made
China one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
4
Map 1
Map provided by:
<http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/.../ chinesespecial.htm>
Accessed December 12, 2004
5
Map 2
Guangdong Province
Maps provided by:
Wertz, Richard. 2001. The Art and Images of China.
<http://www.ibiblio.org/chinesehistory/images/maps/guangdong.html>
Accessed: December 12, 2004
6
Background
_____________
Since the opening of foreign investment in China in the early 1980s, development in both
rural and urban economies has flourished. Job opportunities in urban sectors, mainly in industry
and manufacturing, exponentially increased, providing wage labor to most poor young people.
The post-Mao era, starting in the late 1970s, brought new reform and economic development to
China, which was undergoing economic and political turmoil. In 1979, Deng Xiaoping
introduced economic reforms centered on two main themes. These programs aimed at revising
China’s agricultural system and foreign economic relations. Throughout rural China, the focus
of the reforms was to restore the family as the main unit of the farm economy (The Economist
1991). Therefore, the reform disbanded collective agriculture through a contract responsibility
system based on individual households. This led farm prices to be set by the market. The rural
reforms successfully increased productivity and peasant per capita income, as well as the amount
of arable land. The second vital part of Deng’s reforms was the “open door.” Open door
reforms welcomed the purchase of foreign equipment and technology needed for China’s
modernization. This policy led the opening to the outside world that would earn foreign
exchange through tourism, exports, and arms sales. This policy also included sending large
numbers of students abroad to acquire training and needed skills. Consequently, China became
more dependent on the world economy, which was the reverse of the Maoist commitment to the
ideal of self-reliance. Deng’s 1980s economic reform policies allowed some regions of China,
mainly the coast, to get richly quickly, driving many rural people to the cities.
New Free Trade Zones (FTZs) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) provided unique
areas for foreign investment and consequently, jobs for women. The provinces along China’s
coast were first set “free,” giving fourteen cities the status of coastal open cities (see Map 1).
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FTZs meant that these areas had extra freedoms and tax breaks that encouraged foreign trade and
investment. Furthermore, SEZs where also created that gave even greater privileges. The Pearl
River Delta (PRD) is one of China’s leading economic FTZ regions and largest manufacturing
center. It occupies the low-laying regions of the Peal River where the river flows into the South
China Sea (see Map 2). Since the 1979 reforms, southern China has been the main laboratory of
the open-door experiment. Its placement makes overseas deliveries more efficient and effective.
The reforms caused an explosive boom in the South China economy. Shenzhen, Guangdong
Province is one of several regions that illustrate rapid development and a migration phenomenon
in South China. Guangdong has accounted for approximately half of the country’s total growth
in GDP. It has the largest GDP among all provinces and municipalities, accounting for 11.5% of
the national total.1 Economic policy in Guangdong focuses on continuing the economic structure
adjustment and further developing electronics and information technology industry.
Guangdong’s industrial output rose 15% a year during the 1980s (The Economist 1991). These
numbers continue to soar. Economic indicators of Guangdong Province from the Hong Kong
Trade Development Council (2003) are listed below in Table 1.
1
Hong Kong Trade Development Council 2000-2003
8
Table 1
Economic Indicators
Value
2002
Growth
(%,y-o-y)
11.7
9.5
Gross Domestic Product (RMB bn)
1,177.0
Per Capita GDP
15,303
Added Value Output
- primary industry (RMB bn)
103.3
4.4*
-secondary industry (RMB bn)
593.6
13.4*
-tertiary industry (RMB bn)
480.1
11.3
Value-added of industrial output (RMB bn)+
436.1
16.7
Fixed-assets Investment (RMB bn)
385.1
10.5
Retail Sales (RMB bn)
501.4
11.1
Inflation (Consumer Price Index, %)
-1.4
Exports (US$ bn)
118.5
24.2
-by FIEs (US$ bn)
69.6
27.9
Imports (US$ bn)
102.6
26.5
-by FIEs (US bn)
59.0
33.2
Foreign Direct Investment
-number of projects
6,.805
24.4
-contractual amount (US$ bn)
15.2
20.4
-utilized amount (US$ bn)
11.3
1.1
Notes: * In Renminbi real term
+For all state owned and other forms of enterprises with annual sales over RMB 5 million
Sources: Statistical Yearbook of Guangdong 2003, China Statistical Abstract, 2004
2003
Value
1,345.0
16,990
105.2
704.8
535.0
560.6
383.5
560.6
Growth
(%, y-o-y)
13.6*
152.9
95.4
130.7
79.3
1.8
18.7
11.4
28.5
-0.4
11.8
0.6
29.1
37.0
27.4
34.5
7,039
13.5
7.8
3.4
-11.4
-31.0
Before 1979, fewer than 100 000 people inhabited the town of Shenzhen in Guangdong
Province and its economy mostly depended on fishing and farming. Today, Shenzhen is a
rapidly booming city. Foreign businesses in Shenzhen have offered more jobs and economic
opportunities for local rural people. Shenzhen is one of the leading PRD cities with increasing
GDP and per capita GDP (see Table 2). However, since the opening reforms of foreign
investment, rural areas have had to compete with rapid industrialization. As a result, the growing
economy on the coast brought many people into the cities. In particular, young women moved
into the urban sectors to offer their labor in mostly domestic and factory work where they were
thought to be physically and mentally fit for the job. To increase wealth and provide for the
needs of their rural families, many parents have sent their young daughters to find work in the
city and to send money back home. Consequently, foreign invested industries have taken
advantage of the influx of young females who will work for low wages.
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Table 2
Economic Indictors of PRD Cities (2002)
Cities
GDP Growth (%)
Shenzhen
13.2
Guangzhou
15.0
Dongguan
18.5
Foshan
11.8
Zhuhai
12.3
Zhongshan
16.5
Huizhou
11.1
Jiangmen
10.3
Zhaoqing
10.3
Source: Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003
Per Capita GDP
(RMB)
46,388
41,884
43,401
34,850
32,682
30,693
18,641
17,344
11,549
Industrial Output
(RMB bn)
393.5
378.9
160.4
270.4
78.8
115.9
121.6
142.6
64.5
Retail Sales
(RMB bn)
68.9
137.1
22.5
42.0
14.3
13.4
16.1
24.8
15.5
Exports
(US$ bn)
46.5
13.8
23.7
7.9
5.2
5.7
5.9
3.0
0.9
Migration into urban sectors plays an important role in society’s transition from an
economy based on traditional agriculture to an industrializing one. Among the most important
reasons for rapid development in South China is the cost of labor, which is substantially lower
than in neighboring Hong Kong as well as the rest of the world. Statistics indicate there are over
ten million migrant workers in Guangdong Province who usually work in foreign-invested
clothing, electronics, toys and footwear factories.2 Rural women have been easy targets for
factory work and attract many foreign investors because of their reputation of being docile,
“nimble-fingered” and obedient workers. The work of a gendered labor force is crucial to the
development of global capital and industrial growth. Migrants represent a pool of vulnerable,
feminized labor that works for the lowest wages and are treated most unfairly, allowing global
firms to increase profit and facilitate a quick turnover of capital (Mills 2003). As globalization
fosters foreign investment and increases job availability for local people, it also reinforces
gendered power discourses that further subject women to unfair treatment in the workplace and
society. Women in rural China have a well-established and influential public role in the
economy although they are often not recognized or appreciated by their government or society in
2
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook, 2003
10
comparison to their male counterparts. More generally, migrant workers whose labor is vital to
the economy are often marginalized from society and stripped of their dignity and rights by
permanent urban residents.
In summary, the open-door policy reforms that dismantled long-standing barriers to
international trade and investment gave southern provinces special incentives to expand foreign
economic contacts and allowed managers of state-owned enterprises to acquire growing
authority over decisions about the quantity and variety of labor and output, production methods
and selling price (Jefferson & Rawski 1994). This review leads to the conclusion that reform in
China has initiated favorable conditions such as increases in industrial output, real wages,
employment and exports, therefore causing rapid institutional change and industrial gains.
China’s industrial economy has achieved progress toward building a strong developed economy
due to vast rural-urban migration. The following section examines Michael Todaro’s labor
migration model that provides a means to evaluate and measure migration. Using his model, this
paper attempts to illustrate Shenzhen’s rapid migration phenomenon.
Factors that Influence Migration: The Todaro Model
____________________
This paper follows Michael Todaro’s (1969) rural-urban migration model, which
suggests various economic factors that influence migration and urban labor markets in less
developed countries. There is an ever-increasing flow of rural migrants into urban areas in many
developing economies, but too often urban areas are incapable of providing permanent jobs for
even a majority of these workers. This section highlights the factors that influence young
females to migrate and their contributions towards urban economies. In addition, Arthur Lewis’s
Dual Sector Model of Development (1954) is one of the key contributions to economic
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development literature and provides a broad framework for understanding the impact of
migration on the economy. Lewis argued that urban migration from the poor rural areas to the
relatively richer industrial urban areas gives workers the opportunity to earn higher incomes and
crucially save more, providing funds for entrepreneurs to invest. Therefore, industrial sectors
that rely on labor from rural-urban migrants encourage increased savings, spending and
investment, for less developed countries. This paper highlights the issue of migration in two
parts by trying to answer the following questions. First, what economic and cultural conditions
give rise to these ever-increasing flows of migrants in South China? Second, what positive and
negative effects have occurred in urban sectors due to migration? The Todaro and Lewis Models
provide a means to identify these factors. Without question, the decision to migrate is largely
based on a family household strategy as examined by Todaro’s Model (1969). However, this
paper emphasizes other important economic, social, and cultural factors that attract a steady
stream of rural women into urban sectors and the ramifications of this growing mass of urban
industrial workers.
Todaro (1994) argues that most economists would agree that rural migration is primarily
due to urban-rural wage differentials. The Todaro Model (1969) proposes that rural migration is
due to the expectation that future income in the city will be higher than in the village. The
fundamental premise is that migrants consider the various labor market opportunities available to
them in the rural and urban sectors and choose the one that maximizes their expected future
gains. His labor migration theory assumes that members of the labor force, both actual and
potential, compare their future expected income in the urban sector with prevailing average rural
income, and migrate if the former exceeds the latter (Todaro 1994). An important aspect to the
Todaro Model is the idea that migration proceeds in response to urban-rural differences in
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expected income rather than actual earnings. Potential migrants move to the sector in which their
expected utility is the highest (Harris & Todaro 1970)
The Lewis Model (1954) argues that surplus labor in the agriculture sector, with low or
zero marginal productivity, migrates into urban sectors where there is high and rising marginal
product. As long as wages for urban jobs are higher than those in the rural areas, rural people
will be attracted to migration. As rural people migrate they will often work in industrial sectors
or be absorbed by the informal sector. Consequently, this structural change between rural and
urban labor encourages economic growth. Urban sectors profit from a rural labor surplus in
several ways. As industrial development occurs, more jobs are available for migrant workers.
Thus, these additional workers provide firms with profits and increased investment.
Additionally, incomes and wage earnings will increase when firms prosper. With additional
money or a surplus in income, more people are capable of buying domestic goods, which in turn
increases foreign and domestic investment. Arthur Lewis’s (1954, 1980) work focused on the
fundamental forces that drive economic development. He believed that in poor countries
unlimited supplies of labor ensure capital accumulations and can also lead economic
transformations. For Lewis, growth in the industrial sector drives economic growth.
Studies argue that in South China, young rural daughters migrate to financially help their
families and also to gain a sense of independence (Lee 1998). Rural migrants expect that more
jobs are available with higher wages in the cities than in their villages. When evaluating the
decision to migrate, there is an assumption that each agricultural family desires to maximize
household utility. Allowing a daughter to leave the rural home to work in the city may have little
effect on the family income, given that a large farm family may not need to utilize the labor of
each family member. By letting a daughter migrate to earn money, a farm family will maximize
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its income in two important ways. First, the work of an additional family member on the farm
may have little effect on agricultural income. Thus, sending a member of the family to earn a
significant amount of money will increase the family’s wealth without hurting its agricultural
income. Secondly, for many poor rural families basic living necessities cannot be met due to
high production costs and little incoming profit. A member of the family who migrates is
relieving the family from having to feed that person. A rural family will encourage their
daughter to migrate only if they expect she will earn a significant amount of money. As Todaro
(1969) suggests, in an industrializing economy expected wages in the urban sector will outweigh
expected rural wages. Therefore, most poor rural families will support their daughters to migrate
in order to increase their incomes.
The Todaro model explains that the employment probability and the decision to migrate
can be based on two fundamental principles: (1) the urban-rural real income differential and (2)
the probability of obtaining an urban job (Todaro 1969). The first principle can be evaluated by
comparing the income earned in the rural sectors to those expected in the urban. The second
principle involves the actual probability of obtaining a job. That is, there may not be enough
jobs in the city, if migration rates outnumber the jobs available. Migrants must take into
consideration both of these variables. Equations 1 and 2 below represent the expected urban
income ( YEU ) and expected rural income ( YER ) respectively where Pt = the probability of holding
an urban job in a given period. Therefore, PUt = the probability of holding an urban job in period
t and PRt = the probability of holding a rural job in period t , W R = wages in the rural areas and
WU = wages in the urban sector. Migration (Mg) can then be evaluated as a function of the
difference between expected urban income and excepted rural income (Equation 3). If YEU is
greater than YER , people will move to the urban sector. In general terms this process of labor
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transfer is typically viewed as a one-stage phenomenon; a worker migrates from a low
productivity rural job directly to a higher productivity urban industrial job (Todaro 1969).
Equation 1
=
∑
=
∑ (1 + iP)
WU * PUt
(1 + i )t
Y
EU
Equation 2
Y
ER
Equation 3
Mg = f (YEU − YER )
W R*
Rt
t
The expectations about urban life are primarily due to local kinship and familial
networks. The probability of obtaining a job and the expectations of what urban life and factory
work are like, result from local ties between rural communities and migrant workers (Harevan
1978). Although some manufacturing companies make conscious efforts to recruit rural women
to work in factories, the majority of female workers are supplied through local ties working
women have with their home villages. As migrants travel between both sectors, they
continuously transfer new information to potential migrants. Through word of mouth, migrating
women communicate to other rural young women the benefits of working in urban sectors such
as their wage earnings and new opportunities available in the cities. Anthropological work on
migrant women suggests that the mobility of Asian women represents symbols of desired
modernity and change within their societies, especially to young females (Mills 2003). Most
rural people are limited to one place and therefore believe that the mobility of young migrants
embodies modern ways of life. Consequently, young rural women desire to work in the cities
with the expectation that they will gain consumer power, new freedoms and independence.
Kinship networks are also important for migrants because they help ease the transition from rural
to urban life, which can initially be overwhelming and frightening for young girls (Mills 2003).
15
Therefore, migrants bridge together global and local economies, thus creating the expectations
(both positive and negative) of urban sectors for potential workers. In many ways, these local
ties generate a continuous supply of young female labor for foreign companies.
The motivations behind women’s decisions to become migrant workers involve an
intertwined set of economic, moral, individual and familial considerations. Todaro argues that
the urban-rural wage differential is largely the factor that drives people to migrate, however this
study suggests that it should not be the only factor to take into consideration. The social and
cultural benefits and cost of migrating also play a significant role. In order to accurately define
the reasons why women migrate and their overall effect on the economy, all factors must be
presented. Many young women who choose to migrate are not simply working for economic
gain and out of familial obligation, but instead many come to cities like Shenzhen to gain
independence from parental control (Lee 1998). In a traditionally patriarchal society, economic,
social and political opportunities are strictly limited or non-existent to women. Having the ability
to move away from home allows female migrants to gain a sense of agency, therefore contesting
and transforming traditional gender systems.
The attraction to the “city lights,” entertainment and a wide diversity of people are yet
more important social reasons why rural women choose to move into the urban areas. Shopping
malls, restaurants, skyscrapers and the overall hustle and bustle of the city make it a desirable
place for young people to live. In addition social, economic, and educational opportunities are
opened for many young women. Socially, women can engage in new relationships both friendly
and romantic, with a variety of men and women (Mills 2003). While working in the city, some
migrants have the opportunity to learn new skills outside their jobs and to get more education.
Any extra money earned can be sent home or used to buy material goods, such as clothing,
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cosmetics or electronics. As migrants acquire more goods or knowledge they increase their
overall social status and wealth. Consequently, as migrants return home with newly acquired
knowledge and money, their families benefit economically and socially as well.
Although young women appear to greatly benefit from migrating, there are a number of
important social costs involved. Women who move temporarily to the city are unable to fit in
socially in both rural and urban realms, and therefore fall through the cracks of society (Mills
2003). Society believes mobile and unmarried young women threaten traditional female
morality. Anthropological work in Asia suggests migrant women struggle to uphold their
obligations as good women and good daughters as they exercise a degree of personal autonomy
that they would not otherwise enjoy until much later in life as mothers (Ong 1987; Mills 2003).
The marginalization of migrating women creates self-identity conflicts, thus making the
transition to and from urban and rural sectors stressful and traumatic. Additionally, in the
workplace young rural women are subjected to harsh working conditions and male power. Often
their labor rights as well as their human rights are violated and easily taken advantage of.
However, migrants still choose to move despite these costs. Todaro (1969) suggests that workers
may move freely back and forth between country and city, but they will always look for the
highest wages available. In the process, migrants rationally weigh all their potential benefits and
costs when deciding to move. As women migrate and seek an urban lifestyle, they in turn are
also changing and enhancing the overall economic status of China and the meaning of social and
female modernity.
In summary, the Todaro Model can be characterized on the basis of four fundamental
premises.3 First, migration is stimulated primarily by rational economic considerations of relative
3
Todaro, Michael. Economic Development Fifth edition (p.269)
17
benefits and costs. Second, the decision to migrate depends on expected rather than actual
urban-rural real wage differentials, where the expected differential is determined by the
interaction of two variables; the actual urban-rural wage differential and the probability of
successfully obtaining employment in the urban sector. As discussed above, these premises are
based on and influenced by a number of economic, social, local, and global factors. The last two
fundamental principles of Todaro’s Model will be discussed later in the paper. He argues that
the probability of obtaining an urban job is directly related to the urban employment rate. And
lastly, migration rates in excess of urban job opportunity growth rates are not only possible but
also rational and even likely in the face of wide urban-rural expected-income differentials. High
rates of urban unemployment are therefore inevitable outcomes of the serious imbalance of
economic opportunities between urban and rural areas in most developing countries.
Outlined above are some major theoretical reasons why rural women choose to migrate.
Using statistical data on Shenzhen in the next section, we can evaluate the increasing number of
migrants, rural-urban income disparities, consumption rates, and educational levels that provide a
quantitative means of illustrating the effects on both rural and urban economies due to female
migration. Evidence will show that industrial development that is dependent on rural-urban
migrants increases economic progress (Lewis 1954). The Todaro Labor Migration Model (1969)
and Lewis Model (1954) provide systematic frameworks to help illustrate the current female
migration phenomenon and rapid industrialization process Shenzhen is presently experiencing.
Although the data of migration used in this research are limited and often uncertain because
migrants are not accurately recorded, the findings presented offer a convincing argument that
migration is a necessary by-product of economic development.
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Migration in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
_______________________
Before the 1980s, Shenzhen City was mostly an agricultural based economy. Located in
the Pearl River Delta, Shenzhen heavily relied on fishing and farming. Shenzhen, then called
Bao’an, was an undeveloped town of about 20,000 inhabitants. Once the reforms took place and
it became a Special Economic Zone, the city rapidly grew. Its central location between Hong
Kong and Guangzhou made it an ideal place to locate industry. Light industry is important to the
city’s growing economy, especially the production of electronics, textiles, footwear, clothing,
medicines, and building materials. Vital to the rapid growth Shenzhen is experiencing is the vast
labor force available. The work of migrant laborers, especially young women, is highly desired
and labor mobility is, to a large extent, necessary for Shenzhen’s economic development. What
follows is an examination and discussion of population, employment in industry, and standards
of living data from the China Statistical Yearbook 2002, Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003
and Shenzhen Statistical Yearbook 2001. The evaluation of these three important topics on
national, regional, and local levels will illustrate the migration phenomenon occurring in
Shenzhen, the importance of industrial development in developing economies and rural and
urban disparities that drive young people to move from agricultural-based living to the city.
Guangdong is one of China’s provinces undergoing a high rate of migration and mobility.
Various studies suggest that there are more than 10 million migrant laborers in Guangdong, and
that more than 60 percent of these are women (Ye 2002). The numbers of migrant workers are
difficult to measure because many are non-registered and not recorded in official documents.
Kenneth Roberts (2002) states, “These migrants are often considered guest workers in other
countries—their labor is desired but their presence is not—and with few exceptions they are
19
forbidden residency” (p.3). The China Labour Bulletin4 reports that in Shenzhen, 70 percent of
the 5.5 million migrant workers are females. In the industrial district of Nanshan in Shenzhen,
which has some 0.4 million migrant workers, 80 percent are females and their average age is 23.
However, this floating population—especially those who are women—often receive little
attention and recognition for the development of urban and even rural sectors. In China, the
floating population makes up a large part of the urban population, which includes migrant people
looking for a job and working for short periods of time. This population is a diverse group of
people with different socio-economic and regional backgrounds who migrate to the urban sectors
in hopes of making money (Zhang 2001). Migrant workers and migrant entrepreneurs make up a
high degree of this floating population. Using the data from the Statistical Yearbooks, important
research on female migration in China (Judd 1990, Jacka 1990, Lee 1998, Croll &Ping 1997) and
current media articles (Beijing Review, China Daily), this study explores urban and rural
economic indicators that identify some of the major reasons why women migrate and the
economic impact they have on Shenzhen, making it the fastest growing economy in the world.
Population
The evaluation of population data in Shenzhen and Guangdong provides one method to
calculate increasing migration rates. On a national level, population remains the highest in rural
areas. The urban population has more than doubled since the 1980s, while rural population has
slowly decreased as a share of the total population (see Table 3). Guangdong is one of the
wealthiest and fastest-growing regions in China, and has one of the highest levels of rural
migrants. Guangdong’s non-agricultural population has increased although the agricultural
4
March 8, 2004, Hong Kong
20
population still remains larger. However, Table 4 shows that the agricultural population has
fluctuated within the past 10 years and has only slowly increased compared to the growth of nonagricultural population. Since the opening of the SEZ, Shenzhen’s population and activity have
been rapidly developing. In Shenzhen, average annual growth of the resident population
between 1980 and 2000 has been 13.3%. More importantly, the population with temporary
residence cards grew 43.8% over those twenty years, while the population with residence cards
grew only 6.8%.5 Although the majority of migrant people do not obtain residence cards, this
figure illustrates rapid growth in a part of the floating population. However, as the population
continues to increase, Shenzhen has had difficulty accommodating this rapid flow of people.
Table 3
Population by Residence in China6 (millions)
1953
Urban Population 77.26
Rural Population
505.34
1964
127.1
567.48
1982
210.82
797.36
1990
299.71
833.97
2000
458.44
807.39
Table 4
Total Population in Guangdong with Residence Registration at the Year End7(millions)
Non-agricultural
Population
Agricultural
Population
1970
6.93
1980
9.09
36.89
43.72
1985
11.98
1990
14.77
1995
20.35
44.58
47.69
47.53
2000
23.38
51.60
Various studies estimate that the number of internal migrants in China, the so-called
floating population that moves from inland rural provinces to coastal provinces, range from 100
million to 200 million (Kahn 12/2004). Migrant women are usually employed in factories and
5
6
7
Shenzhen Statistical Yearbook 2001 p.100
China Statistical Yearbook 2002 p.95
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003 p.75
21
the men mostly are employed in construction, earning much lower wages than local residents.
Since 1979, an estimated 300 million Chinese have migrated from rural to urban areas and
another 250-300 million Chinese are expected to be rural-urban migrants by 2020 (Kahn
12/2004). According to the Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003, Shenzhen’s total floating
population was recorded at 5,848,539 persons (p.78). Of that total, those between the ages of 2024 made up the largest 5-year cohort, of 1,661,279 persons. Furthermore, the majority of
Shenzhen’s population only finished junior middle school. Only 15 percent of the city’s laborers
have finished technical school or above, the lowest among major cities in China (Lee 2002). The
lack of education has become a pressing issue as well as the dramatic increase in population
density. From 1992 to 2002, the number of people per square kilometer in the city rose from 825
to nearly 3,600, an annual growth rate of more than 15 percent. People between the ages of 1529 make up the largest portion of the city’s population and are highly demanded for work by
industry employers. Those within the 5 year cohorts of 15-19, 20-24 and 25-29, are usually
unmarried with no dependents with the exception of their intermediate family and are willing to
work long hours to earn money. Female rural labor migrants are more concentrated than men in
younger age cohorts and most visible in the secondary industry sectors (Roberts 2002). Women
workers in the Pearl River Delta fall mainly into the age group of 18 to 22.
Just recently the Shenzhen Daily8 reported that the city hired 15 experts from throughout
the country to map out effective measures in three years to address its increasing population
problem. With a growing number of residents, Shenzhen would have no land for development in
15 years and suffer heavy water and air pollution. The number of vehicles would rise 20 percent
year on year, aggravating traffic jams, and public service facilities such as schools and hospitals
8
Jing 2004
22
would be overloaded. The article reported that the migrant population is dominant, reaching
6.7721 million in 2002 and still expanding. The ratio of migrant workers to permanent residents
in Shenzhen is seriously disproportionate, which has hurt the economy, both rural and urban.
More than 66.38 percent of the city’s population is aged between 20 and 39 while 44.98 percent
are women of childbearing age, 10 percent higher than Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and
Guangzhou. As Todaro (1969) suggests, when the amount of incoming labor exceeds the jobs
and resources available in the city, the city will endure negative externalities.
A high population that outgrows the jobs available leads to high unemployment rates. In
China, the official urban unemployment rate rose from 1.8% in 1985 to 3.6% in 2001. In
Shenzhen, the official urban unemployment rate in 1999 had risen to 2.45%. However, it is
important to note that these figures do not include the floating population. From the data above,
it is clear the population has exponentially increased, even so much that the city is unable to
handle the rapid growth. More importantly, this growth is primarily due to the influx of migrants
from rural areas and other parts of the country. When the city experiences high unemployment
rates and overpopulation, most often migrant workers are blamed for social unrest and are further
marginalized in the city by urban residents.
The urban informal sector is an unorganized, unregulated and mostly legal, but
unregistered group of people (Todaro 1994). Todaro (1969) argues that in developing countries,
unskilled rural workers migrate to urban areas and initially move into an uncertain period, where
there is time spent looking for a decent job. He believes that only after a period of time, do
migrants move into a second stage where they are able to find permanent paid work. Statistically,
the informal sector cannot be evaluated because most floating populations are unrecorded and
difficult to capture since people are constantly moving in and out of the two sectors. However,
23
the formal sector relies heavily on the informal to provide unskilled labor for unwanted jobs.
The formal sector also depends on the informal to supply cheap products and to provide some
cash flow into the cities. Todaro (1994) argues that the informal sector has both positive and
negative effects on the urban economy. First, the informal sector allows excess labor to escape
from rural poverty and underemployment. Rural areas are unable to provide people with a
sufficient amount of jobs and in some cases, people are forced to move away to try to earn an
income. The formal sector depends on the informal for cheap inputs and wages for its workers.
However, at the same time the informal sector can attract more labor than either the informal or
the formal sector can absorb. The effects of an increased informal sector in urban areas can
include environmental consequences such as pollution, congestion, inconveniences to
pedestrians, and increased densities in slums and low-income neighborhoods. In developing
regions like South China, there is an ever-increasing flow of rural migrants into urban areas.
However, unemployment and other negative effects become a social and economic issue when
the urban economy is unable to provide permanent jobs for a majority of these workers.
As China moves into a more market-based economy, people’s sense of security has
diminished (Zhang 2001). Urban residents have targeted the floating population as the cause of
this insecurity within urban sectors. Crime in migrant communities is an integral part of the
structural problems in local governance in an era of commodified social relations (Zhang 2001).
Studies on the floating population in China suggest that the urban public sees migrants as
potential criminals because of their spatial mobility, rural backgrounds and nonresident status in
the city (Zhang 2001). Todaro (1969) explains that a surplus of migrants can have negative
effects on the social economy, especially in the congregating zones of floating populations.
24
Crime, drug use, gambling, prostitution and drug trafficking are a few of the new problems that
have emerged due to an influx of migrant people (Zhang 2001).
Industry and Employment
Guangdong has the largest production base for light industries in China. The output of
light industries accounts for over half of the province’s total industrial output. Table 5 describes
each of the major industries and their percentage share of the total industrial output. Today in
Shenzhen, there are more than ten thousand industrial companies.
Table 5
Output Share of Leading Industry Groups 20029
% Share of total
industrial output
Leading New Industries
Electronic and telecommunications
Electric equipment and machinery
Petroleum and Chemistry
Leading Traditional Industries
Textile and garments
Food and beverage
Building materials
25.4
9.4
9.5
8.4
5.9
4.3
Since the SEZs were created, the economy has largely prospered in the secondary industry
sector, employing more workers than any other industry sector. Employment can often be
categorized in three sectors: (1) the primary sector which includes agriculture, fishing, forestry
and mining and is associated with resource extraction and agriculture; (2) the secondary sector
which includes construction and the manufacturing industries; and (3) the tertiary sector which
covers the service-producing industries. The economy largely depends on foreign investment in
manufacturing. More importantly, the success of manufacturing is largely due to the high
9
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003
25
numbers of rural-urban migrants. Recently however, as the economy rapidly develops, more jobs
have become available in the tertiary sectors, as shown in Table 6.
Composition of Guangdong Province GDP (%)10
1980
Table 6
Primary
Secondary
Industry
Tertiary
2002
33.2
41.1
8.8
50.4
36.0
44.9
25.7
40.8
Industry in China is the largest employer of female workers. The reforms of the 1980s
attracted many foreign investors to relocate in South China where cheap labor was abundant.
Since then, young rural women took on jobs in the industry sectors. Table 7 shows that the
number of female staff and workers has increased since 1980 when the largest sector employing
women was industry.
Table 7
Number of Female Staff and Workers at the Year-End (millions of women)11
Sector
1980
Total
1.98
Agriculture
.189
1990
3.16
.162
1995
3.70
.114
2000
3.44
.0795
2001
3.31
.0785
2002
3.35
.068
Industry
.955
1.62
1.86
1.525
1.453
1.524
Tertiary
.763
1.305
1.631
1.769
1.707
1.688
As Table 7 shows, women employed in the industrial sector decreased in 2000. Recently,
services and jobs requiring a higher degree of education have been shown to pay higher wages
and therefore have driven women to gain more education in order to obtain service sector jobs.
Such jobs include finance and insurance, real estate, social services, health care, film and
television, scientific research and polytechnic services, government agencies, party agencies and
social organizations. As the economy develops, more economic and social opportunities are
10
11
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook, 2003 p. 92
26
available for women, therefore increasing higher-value work. As the economy moves into a
tertiary-based economy, more production and output can be produced with less human labor.
Rural- urban migration is a response to scarce agricultural land and low wages in rural
jobs, which results in the inability of rural areas to employ large village populations (Croll &
Ping 1997). Therefore, in many rural areas, there is a large labor surplus that is willing to move
to earn money. Low-skilled jobs in manufacturing and service industries are easily and cheaply
supplied with rural labor. By working in the city, a migrant will most likely be making more
money than if she stayed on the farm. Additionally, migrants are an outside link for rural
families to gain products and services the city has to offer (Kuiper 2004). Rural communities
benefit greatly from outside income of migrants, especially during seasons when production is
low. The extra income gained from outside sources makes up for lost profit and allows families
to invest their money in better technology, education or material goods, which increases their
wealth and social status. The money coming in from migrant family members has a great impact
on consumption and production decisions. Migrant workers contribute to the rural economy by
sending money and goods back to their families in poor rural areas. An obvious trend in China
has been an increasing movement of labor into non-agricultural occupations (Croll & Ping1997).
Large proportions of household income in the villages derive from non-agricultural work as
shown in Table 8.
27
Table 8
Per Capita Cash Income of Rural Households in Guangdong Province (yuan)12 $1US=$.12yuan
Item
Cash income within Current year
Transfer Cash income
Cash sent back by Outsiders
Cash presented by Kinsfolk
From Kinsfolk not in Rural Areas
Other Transfer Cash Income
Portion of annual income that is sent from outsiders
1980
183.90
21.38
9.62
7.48
4.09
2.57
.1162
1990
11163.84
80.39
23.25
38.70
9.18
10.76
.0072
1995
2861.80
221.64
77.88
65.58
19.82
66.24
.0774
2000
3759.51
273.86
109.46
76.62
22.64
73.46
.0728
2001
3945.53
267.01
75.95
74.74
14.51
78.94
.06767
2002
4146.60
289.19
67.48
89.57
24.11
86.45
.0697
According to the Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003, total wages of staff and workers
in the industry sector has dramatically increased since 1980. The table below compares the total
wages and average wages in the agriculture and industry sectors. Agricultural sectors, such as
farming, forestry and fishing have remained the lowest wage earning sectors in China although
they have the highest population. As wages of rural and urban jobs further separate from one
another, more people desire to move to the higher earnings sector—the city. Tables 9 and 10
illustrate one of the major reasons why rural people migrant towards the city. As Todaro
suggests, the differences in income largely influence the decision to migrate. During the period
from 1989 to 2001, profits from agricultural activities expressed as a percentage of farmers' total
per capita net income had dropped 10.5 percent to 61.7 percent, while migrant workers' salary
earnings expressed as a percentage of farmers' total income had risen by nearly 10 percent to
32.6 percent over the same period.13 As Todaro (1969) suggests, rural people will choose to
move because wages are higher in the urban than rural sectors.
12
13
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003 p. 211
Xinhua News Agency, January 13, 2003
28
Annual Total Wages of Staff and Workers by Sector in Guangdong Province (100 million yuan)14
Table 9
Sector
Agriculture
Table 10
1980
2.74
1990
8.64
1995
15.33
2000
14.82
2001
15.71
2002
15.66
Industry
17.82
95.95
293.50
361.77
380.89
429.43
All Service
Jobs (total)
19.25
102.89
357.80
609.49
696.39
808.87
2001
7299
12944
24049
2002
7970
14406
28646
15
Annual Average Wage in Guangdong Province (yuan)
Sector
1980
1990
Agriculture
587
2046
Industry
804
3023
Banking &
721
3013
Insurance*
*One example of service job
1995
5145
7995
10941
2000
6523
11745
20081
With continued rises in income and economic reforms, the consumer expenditure pattern is also
undergoing structural change. Expenditures on services, medicine, clothing, transportation,
communication and housing have increased in urban households as wages increased (see Table
11). Therefore, the data of urban and rural households illustrate ways in which the economy is
growing as well as reasons why potential rural migrants desire to move into the cities.
Table 11
Consumption of Per Capita Expenditure of Urban Household (%)16
1999
2002
Food
47.3
38.4
Clothing
5.1
4.0
Medicine & medical Services
3.6
5.6
Transportation & Communications
6.3
14.2
Housing & Utilities
11.2
11.0
Standards of Living: Rural vs. Urban Economies
This section compares rural and urban economies in China and Guangdong, illustrating
large disparities in the way of living that influence the decision to migrate. Regardless of social
14
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook, p.97
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook, p.97
16
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 1997, 2003
15
29
marginalization or unfair treatment that migrants often face when moving, the city offers rural
people better living conditions, health care, education and wages. The quality of life attained
when migrating into the city plays a significant role in the decision to move. This is particularly
important for young women because their age, marital status and gender often limit them from
certain opportunities and privileges. In a modernizing city, young women who migrate have
many more resources available to them. Consumption rates, education, and health care are
particularly interesting to examine because they provide a means to evaluate differences between
rural and urban household incomes.
In Shenzhen, since the opening of the SEZs, residents’ material and cultural lives have
improved significantly. This is evident by the increases in income, consumption, savings,
education, infrastructure and health care. Nationally, urban residents’ annual per capita
consumption is roughly four times higher than their rural counterparts. In Shenzhen, per capita
disposable income of urban residents nearly doubled in the five years between 1995 and 2000.
The city also provides better public health care evident by an increase in the number of hospital
beds and doctors. In addition, health care professions have increased in cities, towns and
villages, making health care and medicine accessible to more people. As the economy develops,
higher levels of education are available for both men and women. Although women have a
higher rate of illiteracy than men, the number of female students and teachers has increased.
More specifically, since the 1980s the number of female students has grown about 15%. An
increasing number of women attend specialized secondary schools and institutions of higher
education. Women who desire to obtain more education often can only do so by moving to the
urban sectors.
30
Poor rural areas are deficient in basic services, such as education and health care and are
dependent on migrants to supply their needs. As family members leave for urban jobs, some of
their funds are sent home, which help to improve rural living standards. Rural families are able
to afford better equipment, pay for more education, purchase more goods and improve their
living and health conditions. Incoming money allows families to gain consumer power so they
can buy tangible goods such as televisions, washing machines and clothing that represent wealth,
status and modernity. In addition, these goods keep rural families connected locally and globally
to other people and places. The money also gains them access to cash and savings for crisis and
needs (Wolf 1992). Some migrants may return home to run their own businesses, furthering
economic growth in rural areas. Migrant workers who travel between rural and urban sectors
bring new concepts and ideas that help boost economic development in their respective rural
communities.
Table 12 compares the number of durable goods owned by rural and urban households in
Guangdong. Large disparities are evident between rural and urban consumption, confirming a
higher standard of living in cities. Furthermore, young female migrants who earn money have the
ability to purchase goods of their choice, allowing them to gain consumer power and a sense of
female agency. The city allows young women to explore new and modern ways of life. Dietary
choices also change as people’s incomes increase. More expensive items such as meat, fish and
fresh eggs are substituted for grains and vegetables. According to the China Statistical Yearbook
2002, the major foods consumed by rural households in Guangdong are grain (238.52
kg),vegetables (119.89 kg) and aquatic products (11.79 kg). Comparatively, urban households in
China consume more pork, beef, poultry, fresh eggs, and liquor (see Tables 13 & 14). Therefore,
31
dietary differences also show disparities in health and availability of choices in rural and urban
sectors.
# of Durable Consumer goods Owned Per 100 Households Year-end (2001) Units17
Table 12
Grain
National Total
Guangdong
237.98
238.52
Vegetables
Edible oil Pork
Poultry
Eggs
Aquatic
109.30
119.89
7.03
6.64
2.87
9.27
4.72
2.94
4.12
11.79
14.50
21.94
Sugar
1.43
2.25
Liquor
7.10
2.92
Per Capita Consumption of Major Food in Rural Households by Region (2001)18 (kg)
Table 13
Guangdong
Washing
Machine
Air
Conditioner
Refrigerator
Motorcycle
Car
Bicycle
Color
TV set
Videorecorder
Computer
Camera
Microwave
Oven
Mobile
Telephone
Rural
26.56
3.28
16.17
n/a
n/a
158.6
79.45
5.94
n/a
4.34
n/a
n/a
Urban
97.50
107.92
82.87
61.73
2.29
n/a
139.66
71.19
34.59
n/a
36.04
85.67
Table 14
Per Capita Annual Purchases of Major Commodities of Urban Households19
Item (kg)
Grain
Fresh Vegetables
Edible Vegetable Oil
Pork
Beef and Mutton
Poultry
Fresh Eggs
Aquatic Products
Sugar
Cigarettes (pack)
Liquor
1985
134.76
144.36
5.76
16.68
2.04
3.24
6.84
7.08
2.52
36.12
7.80
1995
97.00
116.47
7.11
17.24
2.44
3.97
9.74
9.20
1.68
28.58
9.93
2001
79.69
115.86
8.08
15.95
3.17
5.30
10.41
10.33
1.67
26.81
9.68
Consumption rates, availability of health care, and education levels are just a few
statistics that illustrate differences in living situations in rural and urban sectors. In poor areas,
females are more likely to drop out of schools when the family is under financial stress. The
lack of education and training for rural women migrants perpetuates their ability to only find
employment in lower paid labor-intensive industries in the urban areas with few employment
opportunities closer to home. However, in the city young women can explore new ways of life
17
Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2003 p.190
China Statistical Yearbook 2002 p. 349
19
China Statistical Yearbook 2002 p. 328
18
32
and identify themselves with other urban people. The ability to earn money and the power to
spend it makes the role of young working women modern and desirable to other young people.
Migrant workers also become “contact” people who can recruit more potential migrants and also
connect rural people to city resources, such as other jobs, health care and education. Migrants
are a multifaceted group of people who take on many responsibilities and undergo the harsh
processes of modernization and globalization. The work of female migrants has been imperative
for the development of many countries, including China.
The evidence above illustrates economic development and the migration phenomenon
occurring in Shenzhen. Labor mobility is seen as a necessary and even desirable aspect of
economic modernization (Roberts 2002). Migration in developing countries is vital to the
progress of industrialization. However, increases in migration rates have become a pressing
issue in Shenzhen. Not only is the city unable to accommodate this influx of people, but also
migrants are further marginalized when cities experience negative externalities. In urban sectors,
most migrants are unable to gain the same rights as legal urban residents. Additionally, female
migrants who work in factories are easily taken advantage of and exploited by employers.
Young migrant factory women are a large segment of the population that contributes to the
development and prosperity of large booming cities, but are often unrecognized.
Female Migrant Workers: A Worldwide Phenomenon
_________________________
Across the world, female migrant workers have played important roles in the process of
industrialization and urbanization. While this study focuses on South China, the process and
impact of female migration is common to any developing industrial country. The United States,
Mexico and Japan are just a few places where rural female laborers have affected the growth of
33
urban areas and the economy at large. Rural New Englanders in the 1920s, specifically young
girls, were recruited for textile and manufacturing companies (Hareven 1978). By the 1970s,
foreign invested companies built assembly plant programs on the U.S.-Mexico border employing
many poor rural women. And, since the mid-1980s, Japan has offered many Asians and Latin
Americans a place to work. Transnational migration has provided Japan with a large labor pool
that is willing to fill its unskilled labor shortage (Goto 1998). People from these areas illegally
migrate to Japan to work in areas such as construction and the service industries. From 19831984 almost 90 percent of the illegal foreign workers in Japan were female (Goto 1998, p.65). In
each of these cases, young women have left their families and rural communities to find work
and earn an income. Research on migration explains that women who migrate in any country do
so for primarily the same economic reasons and often endure the same social injustices (Todaro
1969, Ong 1991, Mills 2003).
Through the late nineteenth century into the 1930s industrialization and urbanization
were the leading factors in the transformation of Western society. Centering on the world’s
largest textile plant—the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester, New Hampshire—
Hareven examines the changes in familial lives as industrialization and urbanization rapidly
changed local economies. Hareven (1982) examines the multiple roles that the workers’ families
fulfilled in facilitating their adaptations to the pressure of changing work patterns and new modes
of life in an industrial city. The family functioned as a crucial intermediary in recruiting workers
from the rural areas. In New England at the time, rural families were prepared to send members
of the family to enter industrial employment, which was essential to the early development of the
industry. For most young women, working in the factory represented a transitional phase—
usually one or two years—between domestic work in their parents’ farm home and marriage
34
(Hareven 1982). The relationship between the family and industrial life in New England can be
compared to the current migration in South China.
In Japan, transnational migration has affected the economy in significant ways. Since the
mid-1980s an increased number of Asian people have come to Japan to find work, mostly in
unskilled labor jobs, including those in construction and service industries (Goto 1998). Many of
these immigrants work illegally since Japanese law forbids foreign workers to work in unskilled
trades. These temporary guest workers come to work in Japan for a few short years, sending
back their income to their home countries. This type of migrant worker is increasingly common
in Japan today. The influx of Asian migrant workers is mainly due to wide wage differentials.
Asian workers have a strong incentive to work in Japan rather than some of its neighboring
countries. The ongoing debate in Japan is over whether or not to legalize unskilled work.
However a large-scale admittance of unskilled foreign labor into Japan can bring about “negative
effects like the instability of the national economy and aggravation of urban unemployment”
(Goto 1998). Japan, like many countries, benefits from migrant workers who will work cheaply,
but also the influx of too many migrant workers in the city may threaten the stability of the
economy.
Women have been specifically demanded for factory work in Asian and other foreign
urban sectors for several important reasons. Women are believed to have the most patience and
complain less about boring work. Factory owners believe young Asian women have “fast
fingers, fine eyesight, and the passivity to withstand low-skilled, un-stimulating work” and thus
are believed to be the best for the job (Ong 1987, p.152). Women’s hands are smaller and can
more quickly and easily finish work that takes much time and detail. Young women are thought
to be easily controlled, less confrontational, eager to work and earn money, tolerant and
35
obedient. The pool of rural women who provide low-skilled labor can easily be expanded and
expendable. Indeed, the large influx young women who seek employment allow foreign
investors to offer low wages and exploit workers. Ong (1991) states, “To achieve global
dominance, Japanese and Western companies bypassed high production costs, labor militancy,
and environmental concerns at home by moving to Southeast Asia or Mexico” (p.282). It has
been reported that in China, there are roughly 100 million migrants consigned to the worst jobs
in the cities in which they live.20
The harsh treatment of female factory workers is reported often in daily newspapers and
media coverage. Young women are victims of male dominating power and are sometimes
verbally abused, raped, or forced to work long hours. In many factories, working conditions are
unsafe and harmful. The chemical fumes, unbearable heat and long hours of standing can be
detrimental to the health of women (Ye 2002). Additionally, women are susceptible to sexual
harassment and personal abuse. Culturally, young unmarried women who work pose a threat to
the established social order. Aihwa Ong (1987) notes, “when marriage was delayed for women,
their sexuality became more susceptible to individual control; greater social discipline was
considered necessary to reduce this threat to male authority” (p.192).
Migration can be understood as the response to improve one’s life from rural hardship and
simultaneously affect economic growth in both rural and urban sectors. Rural families consider
the work of women and children essential to family survival and economic advancement since
the countryside brings hardship and little profit. Migration for young rural women is a crucial
income-earning decision for families. This income is often the main source of earnings and
support for family expenses such as housing, parent hospitalization, sibling education or
marriage. Although migrant workers are responsible for most of the industrial growth, more
20
Kahn, Joseph. August 26, 2003.
36
often than not migrant workers face significant problems in the workplace, which the local
government fails to recognize. Most of these injustices stated below are common to many
female migrants in China, but are also evident worldwide21:
•
Most of the laborers do not have contracts with their employer and those that do
have minimal power when negotiating working conditions and benefits and they
end up simply agreeing to the terms and conditions offered by the employers.
•
Migrant laborers typically work long hours, averaging 11 to 12 hours per day.
Many factories do not observe weekends, and work seven days a week, even
though China’s Labor law guarantees workers 8-hour workdays, 40-hour
workweeks, and at least one day off per week.
•
Migrant wages are often well below the local legal minimum wage, and some
factories force workers to pay fees the government intended factories to pay.
•
The large majority of migrant laborers do not enjoy benefits such as medical
insurance and social welfare services.
•
Supervisors often infringe upon migrant laborers’ personal rights and dignity,
and physical assault and personal humiliation are not uncommon.
•
Workplace injuries are common, often because factories do not meet safety
standards. Workers are often exposed to industrial hazards and pollution.
•
Few of the nonstate-owned factories have organized labor unions, and thus
workers lack an appropriate channel through which to voice their concerns.
Most female migrants choose to remain in the cities, regardless of hardships, social
discrimination by urban residents and exclusions from certain benefits of urban life. In most
cases, women choose to stay in the city to earn money in order to better their family’s livelihood
and gain whatever opportunities they can. Despite economic and social hardships in the city, a
young woman’s life in her rural community would be economically worse than moving into the
city. Although many migrants will experience terrible working and living conditions, the
expectations and the importance of earning an income take precedence when deciding to migrate.
21
Ye 2002, p. 3
37
Therefore, migration to the city is a desirable act regardless of the costs. In the process of
industrialization however, gender exploitation and the violation of workers rights should not go
unnoticed. There is much concern, both in and out of China, about the present and future of rural
migrant women in globalizing economies.
Conclusion and Discussion
_________________
We can conclude that the massive shift of rural labor into non-agricultural industries is an
inevitable outcome of industrialization and urbanization and therefore is considered necessary
for a developing country to grow. China’s Pearl River Delta has enjoyed fast economic growth
primarily due to three important factors: Chinese government policies toward the SEZs, the
inflow of foreign capital and the cheap labor that the processing industry in Guangdong has been
able to absorb. Much data and statistical reports that favor new policies and investment have
been presented in this paper, arguing that migration is necessary for development. However, as
migration is favored by most economies, especially in China, studies offer little information on
local effects of labor migration, especially the situation of female migrant workers of the region.
Globalization today is producing trade agreements and commercial rights that are necessary for a
market economy, but at the same time, female workers’ rights are often threatened in the process.
This economic phenomenon of migration is important to study because the issue forces us to
think about and question global economic processes that seem to positively affect developing
countries, but can also seem to leave some groups of people, primarily women, economically,
politically and socially suffering. The process of modernization is complex and contradictory.
Migrant workers take on heavy, dirty and unpleasant work disdained by their urban
counterparts. Marginalized by city life, the main threat migrant workers face is being refused
38
payment of earnings. Migrant workers are excluded from urban political, cultural, educational,
and social arenas by local governments, and are essentially confined to isolated factory and
industrial complexes (Ye 2004). The current residential permit system prevents migrants from
benefiting from the social safety net the Chinese government provides to urban citizens (Ye
2004). China’s patriarchal society further limits female migrants from certain freedoms and
choices. As women take on more responsibilities and roles for their families as working citizens,
they contest traditional gender morality and powers. However, places that are dependent on the
work of migrants overlook their contributions and civil liberties.
Human rights are not abstractions. They refer to the real-life experiences of men, women
and children. Although the effects of globalization on economies are prosperous, the rights of
workers remain threatened or outright denied. Studies argue that bad social conditions are
sometimes seen as the necessary by-product of rapid industrialization but they have no economic
justification and are by no means necessary (Harris 1999). That is, the process of urbanization
can succeed and be managed without the social disasters that are often taken for granted.
Specifically examining South China’s current rapid development, this study illustrates the impact
female migrants have on the economy. The emphasis has been on the importance of rural-urban
migration on economic growth and on the marginalization migrant women undergo as factory
workers.
Migration is an important economic process that most developing countries experience
and in Shenzhen, is one of the primary factors that drive foreign investment and development.
Economic reforms in China have raised the level of industrial output and have enhanced the
economic welfare of China’s rural and urban sectors while creating the foundation for a market
economy. However, in the process of modernizing, global companies as well as local Chinese
39
governments fail to recognize women’s roles and rights in a labor-intensive economy. To this
end, this study broadly asks if industrial productivity can be created and increased in developing
countries without political tensions or social costs. How can global companies, governments and
respective societies recognize and respect the role of female migrants in economic development?
More importantly, this research exposes that in South China the accelerated pace of migration
has outnumbered urban jobs, therefore creating negative externalities. How can developing
economies successfully manage large influxes of workers and economic change? This study
concludes that the issue of migration for any developing country is a complex process involving
intertwined sets of economic, social and political issues. In order to improve situations that are
deemed unfair and unethical in developing and globalizing countries, one must recognize gender
inequalities that are visible in global processes of development and understand power structures
that are used to weaken and devalue female labor.
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