How do amphibious farmers affect the new urbanization process?

The core of new urbanization is the urbanization of people. However, as the main group advancing new urbanization, farmers who move to cities, due to traditional behavioral concepts, production and living habits, policy discrimination, and public service resources failing to keep pace in time, have become a special group detached from both farmers and city dwellers. Their special nature lies in the obvious “amphibious” characteristics they display in their production and way of life. How to resolve and eliminate the “amphibious” characteristics of this group, so that they can better integrate into the city and become true urban citizens, directly affects the new urbanization process. This article takes Huaibei City, Anhui Province as a sample, and through investigation finds that “amphibious” farmers, whether in their ideas and concepts, or in their production methods, employment skills, social security, and so on, are incompatible with the requirements of new urbanization, and have become the main factors affecting and restricting the citizenization of “amphibious” farmers.

The “amphibious” characteristics in the process of farmers' citizenization

First, from the perspective of thinking patterns, “amphibious” farmers are in a fixed state of attachment to the land and hometown. The vast majority of “amphibious” farmers have a strong attachment to the land and deep feelings for their hometown. In particular, with the continuous increase in migrant work income, the continuous appreciation of rural land, as well as their discomfort with the urban living environment and worries about social security, more and more farmers are more satisfied with this self-sufficient, amphibious life state of “relying on farming for food and doing odd jobs for money.” Sample surveys show that at present more than 50% of “amphibious” farmers in the city are relatively satisfied with their current living situation and are unwilling to leave the land and their hometown; while fewer than 10% have a strong willingness to settle in the city. Under the influence of the fixed thinking pattern of attachment to the land and hometown, the pace of “amphibious” farmers moving toward the city has been greatly slowed, seriously hindering the new urbanization process.

Second, from the perspective of production methods, “amphibious” farmers are in a concomitant state of both working and farming. According to the survey, in 2013, “amphibious” farmers in the city who worked outside for more than 200 days accounted for more than 70% of the city's total; the income of “amphibious” farmers from migrant work accounted for more than 80% of total household income; the per capita income of “amphibious” farmers in the suburbs was nearly 10,000 yuan higher than that of farmers in remote towns who relied purely on agriculture. Although they work and live in the city all year round, because they have not completely separated from agricultural production, they have not yet become industrial workers in the true sense. This production method of both working and farming among “amphibious” farmers is not only unfavorable to the transformation of farmers into industrial workers, but also increases the difficulty of land transfer and affects the development of modern agriculture in the city.

Third, from the perspective of employment methods, “amphibious” farmers are in a marginalized state in the secondary and tertiary industries. The “amphibious” farmers in the city have a relatively low educational level and lack specialized skills, so they can only engage in temporary, auxiliary, and substitutable manual work in labor-intensive industries such as construction, hauling, catering, and processing and manufacturing. Their labor skills remain at a relatively low level, and they cannot enter core positions in the secondary and tertiary industries. At the same time, “amphibious” farmers returning home one after another during the busy farming season also seriously affects the production and operation of enterprises. The low level of skills and marginalized employment of “amphibious” farmers make it difficult to meet the demand for human resources and talent in the industrial development of new urbanization.

Fourth, from the perspective of security methods, “amphibious” farmers are in a state of urban-rural dual division. Under the current urban-rural dual system, there is a relatively large difference between urban and rural residents in social security. “amphibious” farmers cannot enjoy urban social security such as employment, unemployment, medical care, and old-age pension like urban employees. They do not sign labor employment contracts, do not pay work-related injury or maternity insurance, and phenomena such as withholding wages, malicious wage arrears, and arbitrary dismissal occur from time to time. In 2013 alone, the city saw 162 incidents of wage arrears involving “amphibious” farmers, involving 4,830 people. The urbanization of people means enabling farmers who move to cities to enjoy public services fairly just like urban residents. However, in the face of the urban-rural dual social security system and the high cost of living in cities, “amphibious” farmers can only hesitate and shrink back when it comes to moving to the city.

Fifth, from the perspective of organizational methods, “amphibious” farmers are in a loose state of going it alone. Because the government lacks effective guidance, organization, and management for “amphibious” farmers, when looking for work in the city, “amphibious” farmers mostly rely on relatives and friends and find their own ways. At the same time, limited by their own skills and with poor access to employment information, some farmers who move to cities have long had difficulty finding suitable and stable work; and for some “amphibious” farmers who have been in the city for a longer time, their social relations are simple, and they mostly go it alone and fight separately. The disorder of moving to cities and the lack of organization in management often cause the lawful rights and interests of “amphibious” farmers to be infringed upon.

Reflections on resolving the “amphibious” characteristics of farmers' citizenization

In order to better advance the citizenization of “amphibious” farmers and accelerate the new urbanization process, efforts should be focused on the following four aspects:

First, focus efforts on transforming the ideas and concepts of “amphibious” farmers. First, strengthen public opinion publicity. Actively adopt various forms to deeply publicize the great significance of new urbanization, so that “amphibious” farmers truly understand that they are the greatest beneficiaries of new urbanization, thereby consciously and voluntarily participating actively, and providing momentum for accelerating land transfer, land rights confirmation and registration, and land expropriation and demolition. Second, enhance psychological identification. It is necessary to strengthen the care and concern of organizations at all levels, service centers, and civil society groups for “amphibious” farmers, gradually enhancing their sense of identification with and belonging to the city, so that they can integrate into urban life in a harmonious and environment. Third, improve cultural literacy. Focus on the cultural education and moral education of “amphibious” farmers, cultivate urban resident concepts and public morality awareness, and help them establish new concepts and change old habits.

Second, focus efforts on improving the employment skills of “amphibious” farmers. First, strengthen vocational skills training. Scientifically formulate comprehensive training plans for “amphibious” farmers, closely centering on the employment needs of the labor market, carry out order-based training, targeted training, and enterprise position-specific training, and continuously enhance the pertinence and effectiveness of skills training. Second, improve the ability for independent entrepreneurship. It is necessary to further relax restrictions on the conditions for registration of entrepreneurship by “amphibious” farmers, and use support policies such as fiscal support, entrepreneurship training, small guaranteed loans, and entrepreneurship incubation to promote independent entrepreneurship among “amphibious” farmers. Third, develop vocational education oriented toward rural areas. At present, rural junior and senior high school graduates in our country are the new generation of “amphibious” farmers, and improving their vocational skills should be an important task of vocational education. Vigorously support various vocational and technical colleges in expanding the scale of rural enrollment, encourage ordinary middle schools with conditions to offer vocational education courses, and effectively strengthen the construction of teaching staff, teaching materials, and practical training bases for rural vocational education.

Third, focus efforts on building integrated urban-rural social security. First, advance the settlement of “amphibious” farmers in cities and towns. Accelerate the reform of the household registration system, fully lift restrictions on urban household registration, and promote the orderly settlement in cities and towns of “amphibious” farmers who have the conditions and willingness and have stable employment and housing in cities and towns, as well as their accompanying family members, and ensure they enjoy urban public services equally in accordance with the law. Second, guarantee fair access to education for accompanying children. Incorporate the compulsory education of the accompanying children of “amphibious” farmers into education development planning and the scope of fiscal guarantees, comprehensively clear obstacles in public school enrollment conditions, and ensure that they receive compulsory education mainly in public schools. Third, expand the coverage of social insurance. Encourage “amphibious” farmers to broadly participate in urban employee basic old-age pension and basic medical insurance, continuously strengthen enterprise contribution responsibilities, and expand the proportion of “amphibious” farmers participating in urban employee work-related injury, unemployment, and maternity insurance. Fourth, improve the housing conditions of “amphibious” farmers. It is necessary to adopt multiple methods such as low-rent housing, public rental housing, rental subsidies, and housing purchase subsidies to reduce the housing burden of “amphibious” farmers, vigorously strengthen the governance of urban villages and urban-rural fringe areas, and improve the accommodation conditions of “amphibious” farmers living there.

Fourth, focus efforts on strengthening the organization and management of “amphibious” farmers. First, strengthen information statistics work. Advance the construction of an information network for “amphibious” farmers, realize information sharing on basic personal information, employment intentions, and labor demand, and improve the degree of organization in labor export, entrepreneurship training, and other work. Second, strengthen the role of labor unions. Actively guide “amphibious” farmers to join labor union organizations, urge employers to fulfill the obligations stipulated by laws and regulations, and effectively perform their duties. Third, keep channels for rights protection open. Improve the grassroots legal aid and legal service work network, further simplify the labor dispute mediation and arbitration procedures for “amphibious” farmers, and strictly investigate and handle in accordance with the law illegal acts by employers that infringe upon the rights and interests of “amphibious” farmers.