More migrant farmers are likely to sink to poverty because of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the China Daily reported Wednesday.
Experts and officials believe that migrant laborers have been the hardest hit by the virus in terms of unemployment, followed by laid-off workers and university graduates.
Cai Fang, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said poverty rates in rural areas will increase because seven to eight million farmers have returned to their hometowns and lost their city jobs.
Some experts forecast that migrant laborers are expected to lose some 40 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) of income by the end of this year.
They should be granted short-term unemployment allowances, suggested Chen Huai, a central government think tank researcher with the State Council Development and Research Center.
(China Daily June 4, 2003)
