Migrants failing to find satisfying entertainment or cultural activities

GUANGZHOU - Most young migrant workers in Guangdong province said they suffer from feelings of emptiness and have strong desires to increase their income, a recent survey has indicated.

The survey was conducted by the Guangzhou Communist Youth League and Guangzhou-based Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao Youth Research Institute.

The survey interviewed about 1,000 migrant workers who were born in the 1980s and 1990s. Guangdong has more than 20 million such young migrant workers who come from around the country.

The young migrant workers who feel empty mainly complained that they fail to have a rich spiritual, cultural and entertainment life like the other urban residents in the southern province, according to the Survey on the Spiritual and Cultural Lives of the New Generation Migrant Workers in Guangzhou.

"In addition to dull everyday life and poor cultural and entertainment facilities in their working and living communities, the young migrant workers find it very difficult to date girlfriends or boyfriends because they have few contacts with friends of the opposite gender in the small circle in which they are living," the survey said.

Meanwhile, more young migrant workers are feeling heavier living pressures in the southern metropolis due to inflation.

Huang Changwei, a member of Guangzhou Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said many young migrant workers feel empty after work.

He urged the government and employers to try to add variety to workers' recreational activities.

"More community libraries and dancing halls should be built in the communities and factories where a large number of migrant workers are working and living," Huang said.

"And the companies that employ many young migrant workers should establish their own choruses, dancing groups and other cultural teams and organize more performances and competitions to enrich their spiritual and cultural lives," Huang suggested.

Chen Jinchang, a migrant worker from Sichuan province now living in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, said life was really boring as he has few friends except colleagues.

"When I don't have to work overtime, I often visit local cyber cafes to chat with friends in my hometown and play games," he told China Daily. Chen, 24, now works at an electronics company in Guangzhou's Panyu district.

"I never go to cinemas or visit bars because of my low monthly income," added Chen. He said he earns less than 2,500 yuan ($400) a month.

And Wang Mingshan, a migrant worker from Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said she hardly has extra money for cultural and entertainment events after she had paid the accommodation and sent a small part of her salary back home to support her parents.

"I have cultivated a habit of living frugally," she told China Daily. Wang, whose monthly salary is 2,000 yuan, now works in a clothing company in Zengcheng, a suburban city of Guangzhou.

According to the survey, more than 60 percent of young migrant workers hope their employers would raise their salaries in the new year.

The survey showed that more than 60 percent of the young migrant workers earn between 1,501 yuan and 3,000 yuan.

Those who earn less than 1,000 yuan account for only 4.8 percent.

The average monthly income of the young migrant workers comes to 2,232 yuan in Guangzhou in 2011. And those who can earn more than 5,000 yuan a month represent only 6.9 percent.

Most of the young migrant workers are employed in the myriad of foreign-funded companies, joint ventures and privately-run firms in Guangdong.

China Daily