ABSTRACT
For decades, Chinese workers in state-owned enterprises were served with an “iron rice bowl,” that is, they enjoyed virtually lifetime employment, lived in enterprise housing, received medical care at little or no cost, and were provided with pensions and various fringe benefits. However, with the intensification of economic reforms and the restructuring of state-owned enterprises, the “iron rice bowl” has been smashed. Nowadays, employment security is no longer guaranteed, a social security system has been introduced to replace the old enterprise-based welfare system, and labor mobility has increased tremendously.
