Unemployment in China - Essay Example

? Unemployment in China Unemployment in China Introduction Unemployment is a major issue in China and the country is considering as one of the biggest hurdle in its immense growth. This research paper would look into how college graduates and peasant laborers of China are coping with high unemployment in China and what are the advantages and disadvantages of the facilities provide to this unemployed class by the Chinese governments. Lastly, the paper would include discussion how the unemployment rate in China is increasing crime rate in the country along with its social determinants. Unemployed College Graduates College graduates are considered as being the backbone of any economy, and their role in growth of a country can never be neglected. Especially in immensely growing economies like China or India, college graduates are of pivotal importance. This is because college graduates are the source of talent for the countries. Due to unemployment for many reasons, the pool of talent at the college level is lost and their talents to ensure sustainable growth over the period of time go into the drain. In China, it is estimated that this year around 7 million students will pass out from colleges and universities. These numbers are the biggest since 2012, when 6.8 million students passed higher college or universities. Keeping this in view, unemployment rate in China will go above the current rate, i.e. 20%, as around 54% out of 7 million students would find it difficult to find a suitable job (Chan, 2010). In this scenario, where college graduates are still unemployed, the Chinese government has to step in and facilitate those students. Biggest advantage of unemployment that Chinese college graduates can receive is that, they are provided with funds by the government in order to empower them to start earning. But on the other hand, majority of the Chinese corporations and businesses are more leaning towards foreign talent than to trust their own pool of talent. As a result, this pool of talent is becoming a waste and the college graduates’ lifestyle has also gone below par. The perfect example of projecting this misery is that, Chinese unemployed graduates are forced to live in small colonies, where each apartment is filled with 8 to 9 college graduates. Despite of living difficulties these college graduates are facing, another dilemma they are indulging into is criminal activities. By adopting a wrongful path, these college graduates aim to make more money in a relatively less amount of time (Solinger, 1999). To meet their expenditures, these unemployed college graduates majorly depend upon the aid they receive from the government. This aid enables unemployed college graduates to fulfill their expenditures for housing, education, food and travelling. But, due to increasing unemployment, the aid provided to the students is becoming a burden on national reserves. Chinese government reports millions of Yuan that are spent on the social security of these unemployed college graduates. On the other hand, other source of income for these unemployed college graduate is through criminal activities, purchase and sell of drugs, engaging into trash jobs which prevents the talent to reach at the top notch corporate level where the can prove to be more beneficial. Even if they find a job, it might be in the field for which they are not qualified or they do not have ambitions for. In this scenario, they fall victim to boredom at job place and their performance levels are decreased. Moreover, it causes severe depression and stress due to dissatisfaction form the job. Unemployed Peasant Laborers Peasant laborers are those laborers who work at a very basic level of country’s economy. These might include farmers and other self-employed basic level workers. These workers are considered as being the biggest victim of unemployment. This is because, these are the one who produce items of basic necessities and perform basic jobs that are pivotal for the growth of the economy. Their unemployment affects the growth of all sectors in the economy. The unemployment of these peasant laborers is beneficial in one manner. As the peasant laborers fail to find a suitable job for themselves, they indulge into the cottage industry where they engage into producing small-scale items. China has reach to this stage, where it is economically stable, on the expense of its cottage industry, which is manufacturing enormous amount of products. These products are readily available in the global market and are offered to the consumer at cheaper prices. For this reason, the cottage industry has contributed an enormous amount of revenues to the growth of their country (Wang, 2004). On the other hand, there are a number of difficulties that arise when peasant laborers try to counter the adverse affects of unemployment. The foremost reason is immense mobility ratio, which proves that a huge portion of Chinese population has shifted from rural to urban areas in search of suitable jobs. As a result, it has caused many problems in urban areas. The utmost challenge that is faced by the urban areas is the housing issue. The Chinese government, so far, has failed to accommodate the mobilizing population from. Because of this reason; the ratio of roadside accommodation has increased which is causing problems for traffic flow. On the other hand, there is a massive problem of human trafficking. Work force smugglers lure peasant unemployed laborers from rural areas to travel to urban areas and find a suitable job. Once the laborers agree to travel with these smugglers, they are transported to European markets where they are sold for slavery and trash jobs at cheaper prices. Due to lack of education amongst these laborers, it becomes easier for smugglers to trap innocent rural area population (Xinzhen, 2003). Another tactic that unemployed laborers adopt to bring down the adverse affect of unemployment is engaging into illegal trade. These migrant rural laborers are brought to urban areas and used for illegal trading of drugs, alcohol, electronic items, automotive and silk. By doing this, they earn a handsome amount of black money, which in return deeply damages the revenue generation ability of Chinese economy. Moreover, this unemployed peasant labor force also engages in to daily wage based jobs. These jobs are considered as trash jobs and repay a very little amount on a daily basis of to the unskilled and unemployed peasant workforce. As a result, every now and than, peasant labor forces stage protest against increasing inflation and unfair attitude of their employers, because of which, the peaceful image of China is damaged. Due to high mobility of the rural population to urban areas, the neo-liberal economy of China is damaged in a sense, that it deteriorates the culture and social structure of the urban areas. Already, the middle class is on the decline in China due to high unemployment rate and increasing inflation. In this scenario, the incoming rural population takes over the left over jobs that are meant to be for middle class of urban areas. As a result, the talented middle class of Chinese society flies away to foreign countries in order to get a respectable job and earning. Another worst-case scenario that arises due to mobility of the rural population to urban areas is the fusion of different cultures, which results in negativity prevailing in the urban society. As most of the rural migrants receive the government’s aid, it reflects on their lifestyle and creates a sense of frustration amongst the urban middle class. This urban class is of the view that, they spend an enormous amount of money to polish their skills through education, determination and hard work. At the end, people from rural areas come into their areas and get hold of jobs that are meant to be for qualified graduates (Liang, 1999). Conclusion The increasing unemployment, thus, has created a wide gap within the social structure of China. At one end, there is urban society which is suppose to do the working in the industrial sector and have access to political welfare aid. Then we have the suppressed rural society, entirely different from the urban class, which is suppose to work on land reforms and increasing agricultural production of the country. The increasing unemployment has caused high mobility, which is reducing the gap between these two classes. When these two classes merge into one, it causes stress over power control and wealth distribution, which further creates a situation of anarchy amongst the members of the society. As a result, the fight for survival becomes a problem for society, which emerges in the form of high crime rate, talent pool flying away to foreign countries for opportunities, confused social structure and negligence towards cultural aspects. In one way or another, one social class is exploiting the rights of another social class either by suppressing them towards low standards or taking over the rights of one class on job opportunities by migrating towards another destination. To conclude the essay, it can be suggested that, if the unemployment rate in China continues to increase at the same pace, it would cause a horrible social and economic dilemma, which might result in the debacle of huge financial and economic structure of the country. Reference List Chan, K. W. (2010). The Household Registration System and Migrant Labor in China: Notes on a Debate. Population and Development Review, 36 (2), 357-364. Liang, Z. (1999). Foreign investment, economic growth, and temporary migration: The case of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, China. Development and Society, 28 (1), 115-137. Solinger, D. (1999). Contesting Citizenship in Urban China. Berkerley: University of California Press. Wang, J. (2004). Bourgeois Bohemians in China? Neo-Tribes and the Urban Imaginary. The China Quarterly, 532-548. Xinzhen, L. (2003). Housing Policy Falls Short. Beijing Review, 5 (1), 24-25. Read More