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Social security for China's migrant workers
The author wishes to acknowledge the sponsorship of this work by the Major Project Funds of the Key Research Institute of Social Science and Humanities, Ministry of Education of China (Project grant No. 2009JJD790045).
Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.
Abstract.
China's lack of social and labour policy coherence is an increasingly serious problem which threatens to undermine labour–capital relations and, ultimately, the sustainability of the country's market transition. A particular constraint on the further development of the private sector is the absence of integrated social protection for rural migrants. These workers account for a large share of the private-sector labour force, yet many of them do not enjoy the same social security rights as urban residents. The Government has started to address this issue through tighter law enforcement but, the author argues, the solution may call for some institutional reform.