As has been stated by the latest Guangdong Consumer Blue Book, young migrant workers have began changing their consumption pattern by loosening their purse strings. That means migrant workers are willing to settle in cities, and we should help them in their efforts, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpt:

We are seeing a generation of migrant workers whose consumption pattern differs from the earlier generations'. Many among the new generation think they won't be able to lift their families out of poverty without getting rich in big cities. This new trend indicates that China's rural society may be undergoing a big transition.

Traditionally, migrant workers do everything possible to save every cent for their families in the countryside. They don't have the least sense of belonging to the cities where there work. And their nostalgia for their home in rural areas has been a barrier for the country's growing market.

But now a new generation of migrant workers have bound their interests with that of the cities where they work, rather than their hometowns. They are willing to spend, to save in order to buy houses and to admit their children to town and city schools; in short they are rready to establish their roots in cities.

This transition has far-reaching consequences for the country. First, migrant workers play an important role in urbanization. Second, it is an inevitable modernization trend that surplus rural laborers will move to towns and cities.

The seeds of transition, however, are still vulnerable. Migrant workers still face unfair treatment when it comes to retirement benefits, hukou (residence registration system) and children's education in cities.

It's time we helped them to adapt to urban life, and government departments at all levels secured all their rights.

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