An Empirical Study On The Quality Of Non-agricultural Employment Of Landless Farmers

In recent years,China has entered a critical period of socio-economic development,and the urbanization rate is rising,reaching a record high of 64.72% in 2021.Urbanization also means that a large number of farmers have lost their land.After they no longer have land as a sustainable source of livelihood,the quality of their non-farm employment not only determines their survival but also has a bearing on the quality of urbanization,the development of urban-rural integration,and the solution of the three rural issues in the long run.Based on theories of human capital,social support,and social capital,this paper conducts an empirical study on the quality of off-farm employment of landless farmers and its influencing factors by using a questionnaire survey method and concludes the path to improve the quality of off-farm employment of landless farmers based on the survey site in L County,Y City,Shandong Province.The study found that,in general,the quality of non-farm employment of landless farmers is not high,and landless farmers have lower occupational prestige and job income after re-employment,higher possibility of unemployment,lower possibility of salary increase or appreciation,but better job satisfaction and job stability.This study also examined the status of landless farmers’ human capital,social support,and interpersonal networks.The level of the human capital of landless farmers is not high,76.9% of landless farmers have relatively good physical health,48.8% of landless farmers have junior high school education or less;before landlessness,25.6% of landless farmers have urban working experience,36.5% of landless farmers have worked in non-farm occupations;after landlessness,22.7% of landless farmers have attended work-related training at their own expense,61.6% of landless farmers At present,53.2%of landless farmers have a skill,but only 38.9% of them have a skill certificate.The social support for landless farmers in terms of employment is not optimistic.In terms of government employment support,only 11.3% of landless farmers received government employment placement,17.7% received government employment financial support,22.7%received government employment technical support,and 25.1% received government employment information support;only 21.7% of landless farmers received In terms of community(village committee or neighborhood committee)employment support,only21.7% of landless farmers received technical support for employment and 24.1% received community employment information support;in terms of enterprise employment support,only 31.5% of landless farmers received employment opportunities from local enterprises and 21.7% received employment technology training from local enterprises.In terms of interpersonal networks,44.8% of landless farmers mobilized interpersonal networks in the process of achieving off-farm employment;in terms of network size,71.4% of landless farmers’ employment help networks were small,within 5 people;in terms of network composition,70.4% of landless farmers and employment helpers had traditional relationships based on blood,kinship and local ties,rather than modern relationships based on business,friendship In terms of the identity of the helpers,half of them are not in the same category.In terms of the identity of the helpers,more than half of the helpers have high education and professional reputation,are in management positions,and can provide dual employment assistance of "information + favors".In this study,we conducted a principal component analysis on the indicators of non-farm employment quality of landless farmers,extracted two components of subjective and objective non-farm employment quality,and used the combined score of the two components to represent the comprehensive non-farm employment quality.The regression analysis of subjective,objective,and composite nonfarm employment quality with each variable of human capital,social support,and interpersonal network found that,first,the subjective nonfarm employment quality was better for landless farmers who had a skill,engaged in interpersonal network mobilization when seeking employment,and had a leader or colleague role relationship with their helpers.However,the higher the compensation for land acquisition,the lower the subjective nonfarm employment quality of landless farmers.Second,the objective nonfarm employment quality is better for landless farmers who learn job skills on their own after losing their land,have higher education levels,and receive government information support.The familiarity of landless farmers with their helpers and the increase of their helper’s position and help intensity also improve their objective nonfarm employment quality.Third,having a skill and mobilizing interpersonal networks when seeking employment can significantly improve the overall nonfarm employment quality of landless farmers.However,an increase in compensation for land acquisition can,on the contrary,reduce the quality of integrated nonfarm employment of landless farmers.