Podcast Transcript
大家好，欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！
在上一期的podcast，我们聊了城中村，也就是大城市里的村子。在城中村里租房很便宜，但是环境特别差，一般只有在城市里工作的移民会在城中村住。这些移民，在中文里也有一个名字，他们叫“农民工”。他们建造了城市，却很难在城市里有一个家。为什么会这样呢？今天，我们一起来聊一聊“农民工”。
在聊“农民工”以前，我们首先要知道中国的户籍制度。中国大陆的每一个家庭，都有一本“户口簿”，户口簿里记录了家里每一个人的姓名，年龄，出生的地方，户籍的种类，等等。中国人的户籍只有两种：农村户籍和城市户籍。一般来说，如果人们出生在农村，那么就会有农村户籍，如果出生在城市，就会有城市户籍。孩子一般和父母的户籍一样。一些人原来是农村户籍，但是因为在城市找到很好的工作，就可以变成城市户籍，他们也会有城市户籍的福利，他们的孩子也可以在城市里的学校上学。
知道了户籍制度以后，我们可以来说一说“农民工”。“农民工”，意思是在城市里工作，但是依然有着农村户籍的人。他们的工作一般都是很辛苦很累的工作，比如，在工地里当工人，在工厂里当工人，在城市里做清洁工人，出租车司机，饭店服务员，等等。他们的工资一般都不高，因为他们没有很好的学历。他们中的很多人都没有上过大学，所以很难找到很好的工作。因为他们的孩子也没有城市户籍，所以他们不能在城市里的学校上学。但是，农民工为了赚更多的钱养家，只能离开农村的家，来到城市找工作。在这种情况下，他们的孩子只能在农村的学校上学，也只能留在农村，和祖父祖母一起生活。这些农民工和他们的孩子，只能选择分离。这些留在农村，不能和父母在一起的孩子们，也叫“留守儿童”。2012年，一个报告说，中国的农民工大约有2.6亿人，他们都在中国的大城市里做着最辛苦的工作，拿着很低的工资，这也是城中村里有这么多人的原因。
这些农民工们，用他们的身体建造了伟大的城市，为城市里的人们带来了方便的生活。让人难过的是，他们中的大多数人，都不得不和孩子分开，不得不住在便宜但是拥挤的城中村。虽然很多城市的政府都在改变，让越来越多的农民工可以加入城市户籍，享受城市户籍的福利，但是依然有很多农民工没有办法在他们工作的城市里安家。其实，我们都是一样的人，当然都应该平等。希望越来越多的农民工，可以在他们为之奋斗的地方，有一个温暖的家。
Hello everyone, welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!
In the last episode, we talked about ‘urban villages’, which are villages in big cities. It is very cheap to rent a house in an urban village, but the environment is particularly poor. Generally, only migrants who work in the city will live in the urban village. These migrants also have a name in Chinese. They are called "rural migrant workers in cities". They built cities, but it was very difficult for them to have a home in a city. Why? Today, let's talk about " rural migrant workers in cities ".
Before talking about " rural migrant workers in cities ", we first need to know more about China's household registration system. Every family in mainland China has a "residence booklet", which records the name, age, place of birth, type of household registration, etc. of everyone in the family. There are only two types of household registration for Chinese people: rural household registration and urban household registration. Generally speaking, people can be registered in a rural household if they were born in the countryside, and urban household registration if they were born in the city. Children are generally in the same household registration as their parents. Some people were originally registered with a rural household, but because they found a good job in the city, they could register with an urban household, and they would also have the benefits of urban household registration. Their children could also go to schools in the city.
After knowing more about the household registration system, we can talk more about " rural migrant workers in cities ". " rural migrant workers in cities " means people who work in cities but still have rural household registration. Their jobs are generally very tough and tiring, for example, working as workers on construction sites, working as workers in factories, working as cleaners in cities, or working as taxi drivers, restaurant waiters, and so on. Their salaries are generally low because they do not have a good education. Many of them have not gone to university, so it is difficult to find good jobs. Because their children are not registered in an urban household either, they cannot attend schools in the city. However, in order to earn more money to support their families, migrant workers can only leave their rural homes and come to cities to find jobs. In this case, their children can only go to schools in the countryside, and they can only stay in the countryside and live with their grandparents. These migrant workers and their children can only choose to be separated. These children who stay in the countryside and cannot stay with their parents are also called "left-behind children". In 2012, a report stated that there are about 260 million migrant workers in China, and they are all doing the hardest jobs in China's big cities with very low wages, which is why there are so many people in urban villages.
These migrant workers have built great cities with their bodies and brought convenient life to the people in the cities. Sadly, most of them have to be separated from their children and have to live in cheap but crowded urban villages. Although the governments of many cities are changing their rules so that more and more migrant workers can register with the urban household and enjoy the benefits of the urban household registration, there are still many migrant workers who are unable to settle down in the cities where they work. In fact, we are all human beings, and of course, we should all be equal. We hope that more and more migrant workers can have a nice home in the city which they are devoting their lives to.