Unequal pain: a sketch of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migrants’ employment in China

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the employment of migrant workers in China. Our research has estimated that nationally, at least 30-50 million migrants lost their jobs in late March, far more than the local urban workers. An online survey also indicates that the rural-hukou population have borne the brunt of the outbreak. More than 90% ruralhukou migrant workers could not find work as of late February, compared to 42% for urban-hukou migrant workers. Those who are less educated and low skilled had also a higher rate of unemployment. At the same time, there is a serious mismatch between workers covered by the social safety net and those who really need it. Both across the Chinese population at large and within the migrant population itself, the pandemic has exacerbated the preexisting inequalities along the household registration system line. We call for a more substantive reform of the system so that migrant workers can be integrated into the national social safety net and be protected in the next crisis.

Responding to the pandemic as a family unit: social impacts of COVID-19 on rural migrants in China and their coping strategies

“…As a consequence, when a disaster occurs, these groups tend to have insufficient resources and tend to be neglected by authorities, making it impossible for them to minimize the associated negative influences or to recover quickly. In general, marginalized groups in each society vary on the basis of local social, economic, cultural, and political contexts (Che et al, 2020). For instance, in the USA or Western Europe, the term "socially disadvantaged group" often refers to those who are minorities (e.g.…”

“…Muslins), while in countries such as China or India, sharp rural-urban divisions and associated institutional barriers have made the plight of internal migrants, i.e. rural-tourban migrants, the concern of the public and governments (Che et al, 2020;Rahman, 2020).…”

“…The informal or disadvantaged status (e.g., the lack of local hukou or belonging to a lower caste) and limited personal capacities (lower educational level and lack of marketable skills) of rural-tourban migrants in these countries can constrain their eligibility to receive public benefits and limit their abilities to combat negative social impacts of disasters. Accordingly, it was reported that, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, rural migrants in these countries were fast becoming some of the populations subject to the most suffering (Che et al, 2020;Rahman, 2020). They were experiencing severe threats to health, worsened living environments, and poverty.…”

The impact of COVID-19 on migrant women workers in India

“…The loss of livelihood options created fear among them of falling back into poverty (World Bank 2020). Recent research shows that the pandemic has exacerbated existing disparities, further deteriorating the conditions of poor and migrant workers (Che, Du, and Chan 2020;Baas 2020). The lives and livelihood of poor communities in south-Asian countries are disproportionately impacted by (Hamiduzzaman and Islam 2020), but in particular migrant workers in countries like India are negatively impacted (Bhagat et al 2020).…”

Labour Migrants During the Pandemic: A Comparative Perspective

“…There have been reports about mistreatment by smugglers (Rodriguez 2020 ). In the case of China, job loss as a result of the pandemic reinforced pre-existing inequalities along the household registration system (Che et al 2020 ).…”