SEATTLE – In Suzhou, one of the largest industrial cities in China, there are six million migrant workers living and working to provide for their families back home and transition into the middle class. The migrant worker population makes up over half of the 10.5 million people living in the city, and poverty in Suzhou has the greatest impact on this community.
Suzhou’s GDP per capita of $19,922 ranks 11th out of all Chinese cities, alongside its unemployment rate of 2.12%. The city’s development model and commitment to creating a sustainable urban community landed Suzhou the “World City Prize” in 2014.
Migrant workers travel to Suzhou in hopes of finding better paying jobs, but are exploited in the process. Wang Hajun, a 23-year-old technician from Shandong, works long hours 28 days out of a month. He only earns about $480. His home is a small dorm room, which is shared with up to 10 other workers. This was provided by the Migrant Workers’ Home (MWH), an organization that provides accommodation, a library, legal advice and education on labor laws.
For migrant workers not as fortunate to live in an MWH-provided home, many are marginalized by their employers. Instead of enjoying the benefits of a growing economy, these workers often fall ill and lose their hearing due to unsafe labor practices. Although they live in poverty in Suzhou, they nonetheless continue working, in hope that they will be able to send their children to college and positively impact the family’s socioeconomic status.
“When we came to Suzhou, we had to leave our two children with my parents in the Henan Province because of the hukou (household registration system) restrictions,” says Zhang, a migrant worker who left her job as a farmer to find work at the Suzhou Industrial Park. “There was no way we could have paid for our children’s schooling and health care in the city with our wages. Then we might as well have stayed farmers.”
While the booming economy has posed problems for migrant workers living in poverty in Suzhou, the local government has offered aid to the Tongren, Guizhou province to fight poverty and improve their education systems. About one out of every five people living in Tongren is listed as destitute.
In 2013, Guizhou lifted about 1.7 million people out of povertynd when its GDP grew by 12.7%. However, the average annual income is $370, which is below China’s national standard for alleviating poverty. The aid is considered an investment by Suzhou in order to expand their enterprises and create more jobs. Their success with Tongren is a leading model for other Chinese cities to alleviate poverty.
– Donald Gering
Sources: China Daily 1, China Daily 2, Oxfam
Photo: Mic