The Happiness Difference between Two Chinese Worker Groups: A Comparison between Migrant Workers on Production Line and Local Workers in Railway Electrical Supply Section

Abstract

The aim of this study is try to investigate the well-being status of migrant workers comparing with local workers. An integrated questionnaire were designed based on previous studies, which included General Well-Being Schedule, psychological well-being scale, social well-being scale, contextual task performance scale, occupational stress scale and perceived social support scale. 1255 migrant rural workers in a large manufacturing company in Shandong and 523 local workers in railway electrical supply section in Liaoning were involved in the investigation. The result showed that migrant workers group had significant lower scores in subjective well-being, psychological well-being than local workers (p < 0.001). Also, the migrant workers faced much heavier role overload and role insufficiency problem compared with local workers group (p < 0.001). The findings of this study suggest that the migrant workers facing big gap between their expectation of life and their living actuality. They need more attention from company managers and government.