Peasant workers in modern Chinese society: social status and opportunities for social growth

The study focuses on a new social group of peasant workers (Chinese: 农民民), which began to emerge in China after the implementation of a policy of reform and openness that created conditions for rapid economic growth. In 2019, this group reached 290 million people and became an important component of the workforce. Peasant workers are a borderline group, being at the same time connected to the countryside and the urban environment. The place of registration is the countryside, but they live and work in urban areas. The author analyzes various characteristics of this group - total number, age structure, income, history of formation, migration directions, as well as education level, professional and legal status. The social status of this group is unstable because peasant workers cannot be classified as members either of the peasant class or the worker class. Bureaucratic restrictions, poor access to education, low income and isolation of the social group have become the main constraints to improving the social status of peasant workers. An important precondition for changing the status of this group is the social integration of peasant workers and their families into the urban environment. Reducing discrimination against peasant workers, as well as the possibility of obtaining social benefits on an equal basis with urban residents, will help reduce the destructive and criminal impact of the group on social stability in China. The author concludes that the change in the social status of this social group, that Chinese sociologists expect, and the integration of the second generation of peasant workers into the urban environment may encounter certain obstacles due to the need of business and state-owned corporations for low-skilled work and the rejection of urban standards by peasant workers.