The Life of Rural Women in Their Middle and Older Years
If you don't establish income sources after unemployment as soon as possible when you're young, it becomes much harder later in life—especially for women from rural towns and villages. (The main reason is that rural residents' pensions are only about a thousand yuan per year, which is completely insufficient for living expenses, so they must find additional ways to earn money.)
Due to China's demographic structure, many easy and friendly jobs are occupied by young people. If you don't have a relatively stable job that can support your later years, the first problem you face when entering middle age or beyond is where the money comes from. Most enterprises and factories only hire people in their prime; they are not very friendly toward older workers.
This article focuses on rural populations in middle age and beyond. After being eliminated from factory and construction site work, the only jobs they can basically participate in are agricultural work at factories and enterprises. They face nearly harsh working conditions: daily working hours普遍 exceed 12 hours, requiring tens of thousands of picking motions. Physical pain and wear and tear are the direct costs. It's not just tea picking; they also pick garlic, goji berries, and chili peppers. Their income sources flow with the seasons across the land.