Investigation report on the current operating and living conditions of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai

15: 22 on October 9, 2111

Author: Shanghai Association of Individual Workers

While reiterating its adherence to the "two unshakable" policy, the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further clarified that it is necessary to promote fair access, improve financing conditions, remove institutional obstacles and promote the development of individual, private economy and small and medium-sized enterprises. Individual economy is an important part of non-public economy, which plays an irreplaceable role in promoting employment, meeting people's daily needs and building a harmonious society. In the new century, Shanghai's individual economy has developed rapidly, but it has also produced new situations and new problems. In order to promote the further development of the city's individual economy and give full play to its positive role, the Supervision Department of the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Shanghai Association of Individual Workers conducted a special investigation on the business and living conditions of individual industrial and commercial households in this city by means of questionnaire sampling survey, holding a special symposium on individual industrial and commercial households and visiting and collecting cases, and put forward some suggestions and measures according to the demands of individual industrial and commercial households and the problems existing in their development.

I. Basic information and characteristics of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai at present

By the end of September 2111, there were 351,637 individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai (accounting for 29.8% of the total number of market operators in the city) with 431,823 employees. Compared with 1979 in the early days of reform and opening up and 1992 in which the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly set the goal of establishing a socialist market economic system, the total number of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai increased by 41.8 times and 1.8 times respectively, and the number of employees increased by 51.3 times and 2.4 times respectively.

according to the distribution of industries, the vast majority of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai are engaged in industries closely related to citizens' daily lives, with 76.1% engaged in wholesale and retail, 11.9% engaged in catering and accommodation services, and 6.6% engaged in residential services such as repairs and haircuts. In addition, there are 121,961 individual industrial and commercial households operating in various markets in Shanghai, accounting for 34.4% of the total, of which 71% are operating in the agricultural and sideline products market, which has become a new force to enrich the citizens' food baskets.

At present, Shanghai's individual economy has the following five characteristics:

1. The business environment has obviously improved. At the nine research symposiums held, most of the individual industrial and commercial households attending the meeting believed that their business environment had improved significantly in recent years and their discriminatory policies had been greatly reduced. Of the 4,817 valid questionnaires collected (5,111 issued by * * *), 2,758 respondents answered that they were treated fairly, accounting for 57.3%; There are 931 people with unclear answers, accounting for 19.4%; 1118 people answered that they were treated unfairly, accounting for 23.1%. In addition, the results of this questionnaire survey show that through the efforts of governments at all levels, the problem of excessive tax burden, which was previously reflected by individual industrial and commercial households, has been basically solved. For example, in the valid questionnaire, there are 1519 people who are exempt from tax, accounting for 31%; There are 2613 people who pay less than 5111 yuan a year, accounting for 55%; Only 47 people pay more than 31,111 yuan a year, accounting for 1%.

2. Most of the business people from other provinces and cities come to Shanghai. This is particularly prominent in the bazaars, where business households from other provinces and cities account for more than 71%. For example, in the five markets selected in this survey, such as Fumin Market and Fuyou Market in Huangpu District, Lu Gong Postal Coin Market in Luwan District, Cao An Farmers Market in Putuo District and Jiacheng Small Commodity Market in Jiading District, the proportion of business households from other provinces and cities coming to Shanghai is 71%, 71%, 71%, 95% and 72% respectively. The valid questionnaires collected this time also show that most of the business people from other provinces and cities come to Shanghai. Among the respondents, there are 2413 business people from other provinces and cities coming to Shanghai, accounting for 51.2%, and 2394 business people in Shanghai, accounting for 49.8%; Among the 1,722 respondents who have been in business for less than 5 years, 1,567 people from other provinces and cities came to Shanghai, accounting for 91%; Among the 912 respondents aged 35 and below, 784 people from other provinces and cities came to Shanghai, accounting for 84%.

3. The education level is still low. Since the recovery and development of the individual economy, the overall educational level of individual industrial and commercial households has been relatively low in all social strata. For example, in a sample survey in 1998, the junior high school education and high school education of individual industrial and commercial households accounted for 78% and 19% of the total survey respectively, while the junior college education and above accounted for only 1%. In the new century, although the overall cultural level of individual industrial and commercial households has improved, it is still in a low-level position compared with the whole society. According to the Questionnaire Respondents' Education Structure Map, compared with the sample survey in 1998, the proportion of primary school and below, high school, junior college and above increased by 8, 8 and 5 percentage points respectively, while the proportion of primary school and below education increased instead of falling, while the proportion of senior high school, junior college and above education did not increase much.

4. The subletting of business premises has become a common phenomenon. Through investigation, it is known that it is a common phenomenon for individual industrial and commercial households registered in Shanghai to sublet their business premises and business stalls to people from other provinces and cities, especially in the central city. For example, there were 757 individual industrial and commercial households with shops along the street registered in Huaihai Street, Luwan District before the end of October 2111, but 82 households operated by themselves, accounting for only 11.8%, and others were leased to people from other provinces and cities for operation.

5. Income tends to be low. The questionnaire investigates the monthly income of individual industrial and commercial households: 67% of the respondents have a monthly income of less than 3,111 yuan, while only 72 people have a monthly income of 11,111 yuan or more, accounting for 1% of the respondents. In the early days of reform and opening up, individual industrial and commercial households were known as "ten thousand households", that is, they belonged to the class that got rich first, but now they have evolved into the class with low income. Take Fumin Small Commodity Market as an example, among the 211 stall owners, more than 81% have a monthly income of less than 3,111 yuan.

The causes of the above five characteristics are: the obvious improvement of business environment is due to the fact that the Party's policy of developing individual economy has become a social awareness; The majority of business personnel from other provinces and cities come to Shanghai, which is determined by factors such as the accelerated transfer of rural population to cities and the accelerated diversification process in Shanghai. The low level of group education is related to the increase of farmers from other provinces and cities coming to Shanghai and the reluctance of young people from Shanghai to engage in self-employment, which is caused by the low social status of individual industrial and commercial households. Sub-lease contracting of business premises has become a common phenomenon, because the operators with registered residence in Shanghai not only have little difference with the profits from the rental of business premises, but also have risks in their own operations. Moreover, because many self-employed business premises in Shanghai were applied for before the promulgation of the Shanghai Property Management Regulations, people from other provinces and cities must go through the formalities of "changing residence to non-residence" in order to rent these premises and apply for individual business licenses. In fact, the possibility of success is very slim. Because these people who rent business premises can't obtain legal operator status, they can't effectively safeguard their rights and interests when they have legal disputes and sign economic contracts in their operations. The reason for the low income evolution is that the business format has changed, such as new formats such as hypermarkets and chain supermarkets, which have seriously impacted the individual retail industry, and also because of the increase in operating costs, especially the increase in market booth fees.

Second, the main demands of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai and the social policy factors that restrict their development

At present, the demands of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai mainly focus on the following aspects:

1. Demanding to improve social status and affirming social contributions. The individual industrial and commercial households who participated in the research forum generally reflected that although the social discrimination against individual industrial and commercial households has obviously weakened in recent years, the relevant policies have basically treated them equally, but individual employees have been marginalized in all sectors of society. First, the political status is relatively low. For example, before 2114, 3 to 5 individual industrial and commercial households were rated as model workers in each session, while in the last two sessions, although the total number of individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai was increasing, there were only 1 individual industrial and commercial households in each session. The second is the lack of discourse power. Of the more than 431,111 employees in Shanghai's individual economy, only 1 are representatives of the current Municipal People's Congress, while none are members of the current CPPCC. In addition, when holding hearings related to individual business, representatives of individual industrial and commercial households are rarely considered. The individual industrial and commercial households interviewed generally believe that although they are both builders of Socialism with Chinese characteristics and should be said to be "pioneers of reform" with private entrepreneurs, they are marginalized because of their low contribution to finance, so they strongly demand to improve their social status and affirm the contribution of individual economy to society.

2. Require self-employed workers' associations to play a greater role in safeguarding rights and unblocking channels of appeal. The statistics of this questionnaire show that the majority of individual industrial and commercial households regard the individual workers' association as their own organization. For example, among the 4817 respondents, 481 people chose "township government and sub-district offices" in the column of "most concerned organizations", accounting for 11.1%; There are 3586 people who choose "self-employed workers' association", accounting for 74.6%; 737 people chose administrative law enforcement departments such as industry and commerce and taxation, accounting for 15.3%. At the nine symposiums on the investigation of individual industrial and commercial households, most participants strongly urged individual workers' associations to strengthen communication and coordination with society and various government departments, reflect their demands and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, it is pointed out that individual industrial and commercial households are generally not absorbed by industry associations and federations of industry and commerce because of their small scale, and the individual workers' associations they regard as "their own organizations" are difficult to shoulder the heavy responsibility of reflecting their demands and carrying out coordination because of their lack of authority and funds for activities. For example, Xu Guoshan, an individual industrial and commercial household in Xietu Street, Xuhui District, lost his business site due to municipal construction, and was later arranged by the street to operate in Chaling Market run by the district in 2112 without booth fees. In 2116, the market organizer was changed to Mingyan Enterprise Group Co., Ltd., and in 2119 Mingyan Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. proposed to take back Xu Guoshan's booth. Xu Guoshan reflected this to Xietu Street Office. After coordination, Mingyan Group agreed to return Xu Guoshan's booth in July 2111. The vast number of individual industrial and commercial households believe that strengthening the construction of trade associations and mass organizations is an important aspect of perfecting the market economic system and strengthening social construction, so it is required to deepen reform and strengthen the construction of mass organizations such as individual workers' associations in order to smooth the channels of appeal.

3. It is required to improve the social security system and solve worries. Among 4817 respondents, 1241 participated in urban social security, accounting for 25.8%; 411 people participated in social security in small towns and rural areas, accounting for 8.5%; 1135 people participated in comprehensive insurance, accounting for 21.5%; 2121 people did not participate in any social security, accounting for 44.2%. The reasons for the low coverage rate of social security to individual industrial and commercial households are as follows: First, in the 1991s and before, individual industrial and commercial households participated in social security according to the Measures of Shanghai Municipality on Urban Individual Industrial and Commercial Households and Their Helpers Participating in Old-age Insurance, and some women over 51 years old and men over 55 years old could not participate in insurance; Second, people who can only participate in social security and comprehensive insurance in small towns and rural areas do not participate in social security because they think that participating in insurance cannot solve their worries. The problem of low coverage rate is more prominent among people from other provinces and cities who come to Shanghai to operate. For example, among the 2413 respondents from other provinces and cities who came to Shanghai for business, 1135 people participated in comprehensive insurance, accounting for 42%; 1378 people did not participate in comprehensive insurance, accounting for 58%. The low coverage of social security in individual industrial and commercial households has caused some social problems. For example, Liu Jiancong of Lu Gong Postal Coin Market in Luwan District came to Shanghai to operate from Xiangtan City, Hunan Province. He has been operating in the postal market for more than 11 years. In 2119, he suffered from heart disease and needed bypass surgery. He was worried because he could not participate in Shanghai urban insurance and could not pay the operation fee of 41,111 yuan. After that, he was operated by collecting money through the self-employed workers association. Since the reform and opening up, 22 individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai have been selected as city model workers, and two of them are over 81 years old and cannot participate in social security because of the social security policy at that time, which leads to difficulties in life now. Individual industrial and commercial households attending the forum have demanded to improve the social insurance coverage of individual industrial and commercial households to solve their worries.

4. "New Shanghainese" requires a sense of belonging and truly enjoys equal treatment. In particular, there is no sense of belonging on the issue of children's enrollment, and there are 4424 respondents who answered "the greatest difficulty" in the questionnaire. Among them, 258 people and 937 people (a total of 1195 people) from other provinces and cities came to Shanghai to answer "I have bought a house in Shanghai, but it is difficult for my children to go to school" and "I haven't bought a house in Shanghai yet, but it is difficult for my children to go to school", accounting for 49% of the total of 2413 respondents from other provinces and cities. In addition, there is no sense of belonging in participating in social security. Many managers from other provinces and cities in Shanghai feel that they can only take comprehensive insurance, which is unfair compared with local individual industrial and commercial households in Shanghai. At the symposium, many individual industrial and commercial households from other provinces and cities who came to Shanghai to operate suggested that they have been operating in Shanghai for many years, and a considerable number of them have been in Shanghai for more than 11 years. Some of them have bought houses in Shanghai, but they have actually become a part of "Shanghainese", but they have not enjoyed the treatment of Shanghainese in terms of social security and children's schooling, so they have no sense of belonging from Shanghainese. I hope this strong demand will be reflected and the problem of "new Shanghainese" will be solved step by step.

5. party member and those who want to make progress politically have asked to strengthen the party building work, which has been concerned by the organization. Among the respondents, there are 391 people from * * * in party member, among which 128 people are organized in their original units and places (mainly in other provinces and cities), accounting for 32.7% of the respondents in party member. During the investigation and discussion, they pointed out that some original units no longer exist, and party member has become a "pocket account". In addition, party member, who has organizational relations with local party organizations in other provinces and cities, can only stay outside the party organizations for a long time. In order to carry out the activity of "Striving for Excellence", the Municipal Association of Self-employed Workers conducted a thorough investigation on party member, an individual industrial and commercial household and party organizations in the city. According to incomplete statistics, there are 4,411 people in party member, and there are only 28 party branches of individual industrial and commercial households. Except for party member, who participated in the party organizations of individual industrial and commercial households and party member's relationship with the original unit and local party organizations, other party member can only participate in the party activities of neighborhood committees and village committees. Due to the lack of the same language, their enthusiasm for participating in organizational activities is not high. In addition, among the respondents in the questionnaire, 71 people are under the age of 35 (all youth league members) and want to join the * * * production party, but I don't know which party organization to hand over the application for joining the party. At the research forum, some individual industrial and commercial households, including party member and activists who joined the Party, strongly demanded to strengthen the Party building work in line with the characteristics of individual industrial and commercial households, so that they could be educated and cared for by the organization.

these demands of the above-mentioned individual industrial and commercial households have not been met, mainly because of the defects in current policy implementation, the lag of social construction and other policy and social factors, and these problems have also restricted the further development of Shanghai's individual economy.

1. There are flaws in the specific implementation of the policy. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of the construction of a harmonious socialist society and the continuous improvement of China's basic economic system, the color of ownership discrimination has obviously faded in formulating policies and amending laws and regulations, but there are still problems in concrete implementation. Such as obtaining a loan, opening a bank account and enjoying