Demographic Profile, Spatial Mobility and Residence of Beijing’s In-Migrants: Data from the 2010 Census

As reported in the 6th National Population Census, migrants in the 20–39 age group accounted for 62.8 % of the total migrant population in Beijing in 2010: 19.9 % (1.4 million) were in the 20–24 age group, 18.0 % (1.27 million) in the 25–29 age group, 13.5 % (0.95 million) in the 30–34 age group and 11.3 % (0.8 million) in the 35–39 age group (see Fig. 4.2).

Both Figs. 4.3 and 4.4 contrast against the age structure reported by the 2010 6th National Population Census between Beijing hukou holders and their migrant counterparts. Migrants represent the non-registered permanent residents who have stayed for more than 6 months in Beijing. It is found that Beijing’s migrants have a much younger age structure than that of their local counterparts. There are two age group clusters among the locally registered permanent residents in 2010: (a) the 45–59 age group which makes up 26.9 % of Beijing hukou holders; and (b) the 20–29 age group which accounts for 18.6 % of the local population. This indicates a visible intergenerational relation between the two baby boom periods, resulting in the prediction of an aging society in Beijing in the near future.

Table 4.3 shows the proportion of chief breadwinners (15–59 age group) across three population groups out of Beijing’s total permanent residents, composed of the locals and migrants. Three indexes of an aging society are listed in each population group:

The obtained values of the breadwinner indexes show a sharp contrast in age group structure between the local and non-local populations. In 2010, the senior citizen raising rate for migrants was reported at an extreme low of 3.8 %, whereas the value for the local hukou holders was as high as 24.3 %. A similar situation is found when comparing the baby raising rate between local and non-local populations in Beijing, although their variance is not as significant as the above. It is believed that a young age structure of migrant workers is a ‘demographic bonus’ (a demographic potential for high economic growth) for the host city, as the city has been economically activated without being further burdened by a flood of young workers (see Figs. 4.3 and 4.4 and Table 4.3, see Cai 2012). Their visible economic contribution explains the ease of registration control (hukou) since the late 1970s, which has greatly driven the urbanization process and set the pace for urban developments in the last three decades.

The sex ratio of Beijing’s migrants was reported to be 1.19 averaged over the whole migrant population in 2010, indicating an obviously higher proportion of male than female migrants. The sex ratio, however, was quite balanced for the local hukou holders, at a reported 1.01. Among all the permanent residents in Beijing, the sex ratio was 1.07. Table 4.4 lists the sex ratios of male to female in each age group for each population group. The migrants belonging to the 0–59 age group have a sex ratio that is visibly unbalanced (above 1.2), demonstrating a male-dominated migration, with the 20–29 age group as an exception (with a sex ratio of only 1.09). In Sect. 4.3.1, the reasons for this exceptional sex-ratio in the 0–59 age group of Beijing’s migrants will be given.

Table 4.5 compares the educational level of Beijing’s local and non-local populations, specifically focusing on the population aged 6 years old and above. The proportion of those who are illiterate and those with only elementary education in the population is visibly higher among the locals than that for the migrants. For the remaining educational groups, the demographic profile shows that the migrants tend to be poorly educated compared to their local counterparts. Around 45.9 % of the migrants have attained a junior high school education and a mere 13.3 % of them have attained degrees in universities (including higher degree programmes). The proportion of locals with a higher education is clearly larger, at a reported 24.1 % in 2010. The relatively poor educational background of Beijing’s migrants would lead to them having a comparatively disadvantaged status in the labour market, resulting in a high probability of them being forced to receive a low job rank and low salary in the host city. The following section will elaborate on the migrants’ job ranks in Beijing.

Table 4.6 contrasts the job ranks of employment populations between the local and non-local permanent residents. The data in Table 4.6 refers to the currently employed population, excluding the laid-off workers and nonworking groups. It is reported that the employees out of the total permanent residents sum to 9.8 million in 2010 in Beijing; and the employed migrants total up to 4.5 million.

It is demonstrated that 48.1 % of the migrant workers in Beijing are engaged in commerce and services which consist of mostly lower-end jobs instead of higher-end jobs such as managers/officials and professionals. The second largest employer of migrants would be the manufacturing and transportation industries, which hire 24.8 % of the migrant workers. The occupational profile of the population of locals who are employed stands in sharp contrast to that of the migrant workers. The most important job opportunities for Beijing’s local people are a variety of positions available in research, education, healthcare and other public services (termed as ‘Shiye danwei’) or in other fields such as engineering, technology, counselling, finance, publishing and media services. These higher-end service jobs require various degrees of professional knowledge and provide relatively high earnings for such professionals. Almost 26.6 % of the local workers are professionals, implying an easier entry of well-educated hukou holders into the mainstream economy of the capital city. The relatively poor educational background among the migrants (see Table 4.5) explains the local-non-local gap in terms of job rank (see Table 4.6) and the stability, prospect and earnings of the job they are engaged in.