China now has 150 million migrant workers
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-10-29 15:53
Related: Migrant workers given beatings, not pay
Meager income means no health services
BEIJING - Chinese officials estimate the migrant population has reached 150
million, doubling over the past decade as poor rural residents flocked to cities
to take part in the country's economic boom, state media said on Sunday.
The figure for migrants now amounts to 11.5 percent of the population of
China, the world's most populous nation, Xinhua news agency reported, citing
Wang Guoqiang, deputy director of the State Population and Family Planning
Commission.
More than 80 percent are rural migrants seeking jobs and would make up the
majority of the floating population for a long time, Wang told a national
conference in Shanghai.
In Shanghai one third of the city's population of 5.81 million people were
from other places, Xinhua cited statistics from last year as showing.
Farmers from vast rural China have flocked into cities since market reforms
started in 1980s, contributing to the country's economic boom by staffing
construction sites, factories and restaurants.
But they have met barriers in getting social benefits such as health care and
education for their children.
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