Pay attention to the cost of rural migration

In recent years, reflective research results on rural population mobility have gradually increased, but most of them still focus on "how farmers become citizens" and "how rural areas get rid of poverty and become rich". In fact, the study of rural population mobility needs to consider the location environment and economic and social development of the population outflow area. In the follow-up investigation of a village in the mountainous area of southeast Gansu, the author found that some villages that kept population flowing in scale for a long time in order to achieve development gradually fell into the trouble of "affluence" in recent years, that is, economic development and superficial "prosperity" did not bring happiness to farmers. On the contrary, anxiety and uneasiness became the normal emotions that farmers could not get rid of. The reasons for this paradox of "affluence and annoyance coexisting" need to be explored from the process of population mobility. Among them,"the cost of mobility" is an important perspective.

Mobility costs farmers both physically and emotionally

In the issue of "cost" of rural population mobility, the floating farmers themselves are the main cost payers, and they pay two costs in the process of long-term mobility, namely, physical cost and emotional cost.

The physical cost is related to the long-term heavy physical labor without safety and protective measures, and it is extremely prominent in the first generation of migrant farmers. This generation of migrants, most of whom are now in their 50s, often has the toughest jobs in construction, transportation and so on. After many years, most of them can still clearly recall the discrimination and even deception they have suffered, the occasional industrial accident, and the loneliness, anger and tension that pervade their hearts, making their way to work extremely difficult. The emotional cost is mainly the spiritual pain of the floating farmers, such as emptiness, loneliness and alienation from their relatives, because they are away from home, unable to accompany and take care of their parents and children and separated from their relatives for a long time. In the investigation, the author learned that a migrant woman in the village failed to buy a ticket in time after learning that her mother was dying. When she rushed home, her mother had already been buried. For this reason, she was snubbed by her brothers and sisters, which caused her to be extremely anxious. Another respondent regretted what happened to his son because his child fell into a well while he was working. Although he was saved, he suffered permanent hearing loss. It can be seen that these "accidents" caused by the lack of company and care are a heavy mental blow to the migrants.

Mobility leads to loss of family function

Farmers 'mobility choice is a rational choice based on the logic of survival and development. From the perspective of family, there are two kinds of costs that peasant families pay for mobility, namely, the cost of family function deficiency and the cost of family risk.

The cost of family function deficiency mainly refers to the cost caused by the weakening or deficiency of family function due to the flow of core members. In this respect, the problems of "left-behind elderly" and "left-behind children" formed by the sharp weakening of intergenerational support are the most concentrated. In the investigation, the author found that many left-behind elderly people not only solve the needs of food, clothing, housing and transportation by themselves, but also bear the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren, and bear double pressure physically and mentally. In addition, some children due to long-term lack of family care, and parents have a separation, their healthy growth has a certain impact. The multiple costs of family risk mainly refer to the costs caused by the increase of abnormal events caused by the flow of family members. In addition to the bad behavior caused by neglect of discipline, which increases the risk of deviance and crime, another concentrated risk point lies in the disintegration of marriage and family. In the process of continuous population flow, the marital crisis becomes more and more serious due to the weakening of feelings between husband and wife.

Mobility leads to a lack of development momentum in villages

The cost to migrants themselves and their families is part of the cost to villages. However, from the perspective of villages, the real cost is the destruction of interpersonal relationships and lack of development motivation caused by population flow.

The so-called destructive cost of village interpersonal relations mainly refers to that the primary social relations in the village are greatly impacted, and the original social relations are undergoing adjustment and change. Population mobility makes interpersonal relationships in villages semi-familiar and unfamiliar, and this relationship change brings a lot of uncertainty to interpersonal communication. People are no longer convinced of the once stable and emotional neighborhood and kinship, but instead are increasingly inclined to haggle over instrumental communication. The materialization and equal-instrumentalization of interpersonal relationship is, to some extent, the reflection of the disintegration of acquaintance social relationship in village. With the gradual decline of neighborhood sentiment characterized by mutual help and compassionate care, the village social psychology also begins to deform, and the mentality of indifference and jealousy gradually germinates. The ability of village to participate in and cope with problems has no support. The so-called loss of motive force of village development mainly refers to the risk of loss of motive force of development caused by the outflow of young and middle-aged population (including village elites) in the village. In the investigation, the author learned that, according to the actual situation of the "left-behind" villagers, they are most concerned about the family livelihood, not too concerned about the affairs outside the family, let alone the participation in local economic, social, environmental and other public affairs. Therefore, in such villages,"village governance" based on villagers 'participation is difficult to maintain.

Examining the cost of rural population mobility can undoubtedly deepen our basic understanding of the dilemma faced by rural society towards modernization. According to the author's field investigation and experience, the trend of rural population flow in underdeveloped areas is rigid and irreversible. When more and more young farmers leave the village, they are pulling away from the distance between the land, but also choose a challenge and opportunities coexist "non-agricultural" road. To some extent, the phenomenon of rural population mobility paying a price is a true portrayal of the evolution and development of urban-rural relations in contemporary China. From the perspective of the gap between urban and rural development and the potential imbalance of various resources distribution, behind the appearance of free and random "rational choice" of rural population flow, there is actually a structural restriction of "having to". Therefore, it is urgent and necessary to reflect on the "cost" of population mobility in current relevant studies.