BEIJING-(SCMP)-China’s most desperate migrant workers jostle for temporary jobs – losing means they sleep outside and stop eating
Faced with dwindling opportunities, from rural hometowns to major cities, some migrant workers roll the dice on where China’s sluggish economic recovery will create the most jobs.
But often they are unable to rent a bed, forcing them to wander streets at night as parts of the country endure a record heatwave of China jobs.
This is the second story in a three-part series about China’s employment environment, from migrant workers and fresh graduates to new job sources and the private sector.
For less than a cup of coffee at most major chains, a migrant worker in a major Chinese city can rent a bed for the night. But often, that is contingent on finding work and getting paid that day.
- In the southeastern outskirts of Beijing, amid a record-breaking heatwave scorching the capital, migrant workers starved of both food and jobs still venture out to make a living in the sweltering sun.
The drastic drop in enrolments coincides with China’s plunging birth rate after Chinese mothers gave birth to just 9.56 million babies last year.
Economic Indicators
China population: kindergartens fall for the first time in 15 years as the demographic crisis takes a toll number of kindergartens fell in China by 5,610 to 289,200 last year, marking the first drop since 2008, according to a Ministry of Education annual report.
The number of students enrolled in kindergartens and preschools also dropped, a trend that coincides with China’s plunging birth rate and overall demographic crisis.
China’s population
- The number of kindergartens in China fell for the first time in 15 years in 2022, signaling the toll taken by the country’s plunging births amid exacerbating demographic challenges.
According to an annual report published by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, the number of kindergartens fell by 5,610 to 289,200 last year, marking the first drop since 2008.
- The report also showed the number of students enrolled in kindergartens and preschools dropped by 3.7 per cent from a year earlier to 46.3 million in 2022.
Source: South China Morning Post (SCMP)
