A news of "over-aged migrant workers gradually bidding farewell to the construction site" has pushed this invisible group to people's eyes again.
According to workers' dailys, with the introduction of policies to regulate the age of employment in many places, older migrant workers over the age of 55 are being gradually removed from construction sites.
Sun and rain, high-altitude work, heavy labor, poor living conditions on the construction site... This kind of work is indeed not suitable for middle-aged and elderly people whose physical strength and energy are declining.
But when I heard the news that this group of people was gradually leaving, I couldn't be happy for them.
Elderly migrant workers usually refer to migrant workers over the age of 50.
Some of them have come to the city to work since they were young, and some of them have decided to come out of their hometowns in middle age and plunge into unfamiliar cities.
Compared with "violations", this is more like a helpless transaction made by elderly migrant workers and society.
The city needed them then, and they needed the job.
01
"Don't be older"
After the news came out, many people were indignant about the elderly migrant workers.
In particular, the text mentions a migrant worker who asked "I can still do it, why don't you let me continue to work", which makes onlookers feel sad and confused.
But the truth is that long before the policy was introduced, this group of manual workers in their 50s and 60s was already gradually moving away from the construction site.
Not to be "protected", but to be "rejected".
The CCTV documentary "Walking China" once had a program that focused on a group of migrant workers in Tai'an, Shandong Province.
Most of them are in their 50s and cover their gray hair and wrinkles on their foreheads with hats so dull that they can't see the color.
Every morning before 6 a.m., we gather on time on both sides of a section of the national highway in the suburbs.
When they saw the recruiters coming in cars, they rushed up and "competed for jobs."
One of the protagonists of the documentary is the 64-year-old Lao Cheng.
I was most impressed with him because he always failed to "compete".
Every time you squeeze to the side of the recruiting boss, often before you have time to speak, the other party will block a sentence of "be young, not old."
But Lao Cheng is still very active every time, because one day he can't find a job, which means that he has to pour money out of his wallet to eat.
One day, he managed to catch a job of skirting board.
Enthusiastically introduce his strengths: "I have a cutting machine, I also have an electric pickaxe, and I have any tools. ”
It's about to be negotiated. Lao Cheng was just about to ask for wages, when a man in his 40s squeezed over and asked the other party bluntly, "Can I do this job for you?" ”
In the end, of course, Lao Cheng did not get that job.
Elderly migrant workers are not just "driven out of the construction site" by the policy.
Even without these rules, employers are more inclined to recruit young and strong men.
Do physical work, 30 years old is of course more energetic than 50 years old, faster response.
It also means healthier bodies, fewer injuries, and lower risk for employers.
There is indeed a correlation between advanced age and accidents. In 2018, only 1% of Construction Workers over 60 were over 60 years old in Shanghai, while 15% of those over 60 died of safety production accidents throughout the year.
But under these figures, only employers are discouraged.
The old Cheng sharpened their heads and wanted to work, and even the more heavy and dangerous the work, the more popular it was, because they could make more money.
"A day at a construction site can earn 180 yuan for small work, and only 70 yuan for odd jobs moving things."
"News 1+1" reported on this group of elderly migrant workers in 2015.
Because of the years of wind and sun, they tend to look older than they actually are.
Some people will pay a hairdresser to dye their hair black and make their appearance younger.
Or pick a site with better food, because "eating more meat is more powerful."
China Youth Daily once interviewed a 59-year-old migrant worker. His name is Wang Jichang, and he is responsible for loading and unloading bricks at the construction site in Shanghai.
He was only one meter six, but he had to carry 15 pounds of bricks to the cart and then to 50 meters away, which was repeated 50 times a day.
Because of his small strength, even if he pushes the cart with a flushed face, the speed is still very slow, and he is often complained that people who work together are "like a snail".
But Wang Jichang still did not dare to mention his true age to the foreman, and even showed a great appearance of good health everywhere.
The "age anxiety" that is always on the lips of young people is presented here in a more cruel situation.
Compared with "bitterness" and "tiredness", they are more afraid of not making money.
This group of people living in the cracks of the city has a tolerance for hard work beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Not just work, but life.
The old Cheng mentioned above lives in a broken alley near the recruitment market.
Opening the iron door, the floor was full of discarded paper shells and unrecognizable garbage.
There is no difference between a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom, only yellowed walls and a variety of crumbling tables and chairs.
Lao Cheng proudly introduced that many of the furniture he picked up from the outside was picked up from the outside.
Countless "did not find a job" days, he spent here.
02
Life that was "crucified"
This group of elderly migrant workers did not have such a difficult and restrictive life at the beginning.
Many people have gone out to work from a young age and have experienced the "highlight moments" of life.
Freezing Point Weekly once interviewed Chen Decai, a 64-year-old migrant worker, who recalled that it was "not too easy to make money."
Factories and construction sites everywhere are like trees that will produce banknotes.
Although in the broader narrative, migrant workers have always been the most vulnerable and marginalized group in cities.
But for individuals, contributing to the city and making a living is far more improving than staying in the hometown.
Chen Decai was 36 years old and could earn a salary of 8 yuan a day.
At that time, a pig in my hometown was only sold for 200 yuan - "you can earn a big fat pig in a month." ”
The profession of migrant workers was born out of the rapid development of urbanization.
But unlike other industries, they can't usher in a batch of intergenerational changes, but are crucified in the profession.
On the one hand, these migrant workers often carry the whole family on their backs. Just because you can make money doesn't mean you can save money.
Some of the money earned in exchange for hard work in the city was returned to the city, and some of it became the family house, the children's tuition, and the old man's alimony.
On the other hand, the work of migrant workers is repetitive and unstable.
I once brushed up with a 52-year-old migrant worker uncle who called himself Brother Chuan. In his concept, there are two kinds of jobs in the world, one is "going to the construction site" and the other is "entering the company".
Brother Chuan feels that the best thing about entering the company is that he "does not worry about (worrying) about the way to live."
The Southwest dialect means not to worry about finding a job.
There is a deadline for the work on the construction site, and before you have finished one, you have to rush to find the next one.
I didn't dare to refuse casually, because I didn't know when the next one would come.
When you are young, you don't have to worry too much, and the strong guys who are willing to contribute and endure hardships are willing to ask for any construction site.
But when you are older, a job is done, which often means another indefinite "unemployment".
Brother Chuan is 52 years old this year, and his health is very good among his peers.
There are also craftsmen, who are responsible for plastering on the construction site, and can earn more than 300 yuan a day.
But it is also inevitable to worry about finding live. When he has income, he has vegetables and meat for lunch; when he has no income, he only eats fried rice noodles that can satisfy his stomach.
The so-called "career development" is almost non-existent in their lives, and after the most prime years, it is often all downhill.
Just like Chen Decai, who "can buy a pig with a month's salary" when he was young, he eventually returned to his hometown.
He is already over the age of a flower armour, and it is difficult to find an employer who will let him "work hard".
The last odd job was in the rattan chair factory, because the moving action was too slow and was disliked by the boss.
After leaving, neither he nor his wife found another job.
The highlight moment of Chen Decai's entire "migrant worker career" stayed at the moment of going out to work for the second time.
At that time, he not only took root in the factory in Zhejiang, but also consulted with the boss and gave his wife a job.
Freezing Point Weekly wrote: "The couple is in Zhejiang, the eldest son and the eldest daughter work in Shenzhen, and the younger son stays in his hometown to study. ”
But Chen Decai still felt, "There will be no better life than this."
03
"After 50 years old, it is not looking for a job"
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, migrant workers over the age of 50 in China accounted for 17.1% of the total, almost more than 46 million.
The biggest reason why the proportion of elderly migrant workers remains high is the decline of the new generation of migrant workers.
Young people are reluctant to enter the construction site, preferring to deliver takeaways and couriers.
For this group of elderly workers, it is both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunately, they still have such a way to make a living, unfortunately, they have passed the age of flowers, and they are still trapped in such a tired and busy life.
After the controversy over "over-aged migrant workers cannot enter the construction site", the Shanghai Construction Engineering Safety and Quality Supervision Station once explained.
The main thing that is restricted is the construction work, "other auxiliary positions on the site, such as cleaning, security, warehouse management, etc., are not affected." ”
However, whether it is to sell hard at the construction site, or to do more stable security and cleaning, in fact, it is already a "superior choice".
More people can only walk around the labor market every day like Lao Cheng, waiting for odd jobs like moving things and unloading goods, and making a few dozen yuan.
Even though the topic of "protecting the rights and interests of migrant workers" has been discussed for many years, elderly migrant workers are still the most vulnerable group of them.
Many people cannot enjoy retirement benefits because the payment period of pension insurance is less than 15 years, and they cannot pay the basic pension insurance fee for 15 years at one time.
There are still enterprises that are unwilling to pay insurance for migrant workers, and even "force" their jobs when they are about to reach retirement age.
Lao Cheng said that he did not like to do long-term work, "because he was afraid that the boss would not give money." ”
Zhang Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, once mentioned that many migrant workers themselves are not willing to pay this money.
"They want to turn that money into cash and take it home to help their families, or to cover their current life."
The burden of life leaves them with no time to think about the future.
As long as you can find a job today and earn money for tomorrow's meals, it will be the biggest victory.
Tencent once did a photo report in 2015, filming a group of migrant workers in their 50s and 60s who are still wandering outside.
Huddled in a cluttered and dilapidated dormitory with my co-workers, I ate only five 1 yuan buns for a meal, and spent the most "generous" sum of money to buy myself an 80 yuan dress.
They exchanged every drop of sweat for a pass for the checkpoints of life, starting with supporting their parents and sending their children to school.
Later, when the children grew up, they helped them get married, buy a house, and take root in their hometown or city.
Until I slowly grew old and was no longer the pillar of the family.
The last and most difficult level to pass is themselves.
Lao Cheng mentioned in the film, "50 years old is a hurdle, after this hurdle, it is not looking for a job." ”
What is not looking for a job, there is no further explanation.
He only hopes to be able to support himself temporarily by doing odd jobs, and does not need to reach out to his children for money.
As for what to do if no one is willing to recruit him to work in the future, what to do if he loses the ability to work, he has no time to think.
In his "crap" room, the only thing that looked "worth a little" was a stereo.
Every day after dinner, Lao Cheng would change his clothes, change into leather shoes, and go dancing in the nearby square.
Dancing to the music under the dim street lights.
That was probably the only moment he felt he "belonged" to the city.