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szdaily -> Campus -> 
High school students research migrant workers
    2016-08-24  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    深圳俩高中生写万字城中村调查

    For high school seniors-to-be, summer vacation should be a precious period of time to take extra classes to catch up with the peers in class. However, Yi Shaoqing and Fan Shutong, students from Chenghan International School Shenzhen, chose to spend their summer break thinking about the future of migrant workers living in urban villages by exploring these villages and talking with the disadvantaged group of people.

    After all these efforts, the pair wrote a 10,000-word research report, calling for people’s attention to this special group.

    The report, titled “The Resettlement of the Migrant Population After the Transformation of Urban Villages,” mainly focuses on the changes in rent and other problems related to living costs, so as to investigate the impact of these changes on the resettlement of migrant workers.

    “Before I did a report on left-behind children in the rural areas of my hometown Xinyang, Henan Province. This time I want to do something about the urban villages in Shenzhen, so I can have a deeper understanding of the overall situation of Chinese society,” said Yi.

    Before they could begin writing the report, they first wanted to grasp a general picture of the history of these villages. As well, they wanted to better understand the transformation plans intended for these urban villages. While Yi and Fan did this initial research, they also began, through questionnaires to probe into the living situations of the migrant workers and the impact of the transformation of the urban villages on them. “In fact, at first we just wanted to research into the occupation distribution and the living situations of these people. As the research went on, we considered other subjects but finally we settled on this issue.”

    When asked why they volunteered to do the research, Fan explained, “We want to know more about our country and our city.”“During the interviews, we got to know many different people but we also encountered doubts and refusals along the way, which made us think how could we better communicate with people and ask questions in a more appropriate manner,” Yi added.

    The two students heard many stories about people from different walks of life: the ordinary breadwinner juggling multiple jobs, the hard-working appliance collector rushing about in the city and the owner of a shop who had been in business for dozens of years. They interviewed two middle-aged appliance collectors and learned that they had lived in Baishizhou for decades. Although they could make 6,000 to 7,000 yuan (US$904-1,055) per month, they barely made ends meet due to high expenses. “They both lived in a six- or seven-square-meter room where rent was as high as 600 yuan and was increasing every year. If the rent was to go up to 1,000 yuan, they would be forced to go back to their hometowns,” the students said.

    A tailor who ran her own small shop was also struggling to keep the wolves at bay. In order to have a better living environment for her two kids, she rented a comparatively larger room which was about 13 or 14 square meters. However, the rent was 1,200 yuan and was steadily increasing every year. So she had to work two jobs to cover the rent. “We wanted to ask what her life would be like if the rent was to increase, but we couldn’t even open our mouths upon seeing her helpless face,” the two told reporters.

    The two students couldn’t help but sympathize after learning about their living situations and worries about their futures. “The migrant workers in urban villages don’t have decent lives and they worry that the rent will go up after the transformation. If that happens, they will probably leave Shenzhen,” Yi said. “Most of the people work in the service industry. Their leaving may trigger a number of problems such as a rise in prices thus reducing the attraction of Shenzhen to people who may consider moving here. Besides economic reasons, we should also pay attention to the psychological well-being of these workers.

    Fan and Yi also provided some solutions like offering low-rent housing and housing subsidies for the workers. “Maybe our suggestions are simple, but at least they are the product of our own thinking,” Yi said.

    (Yang Mei)

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