That is also the major reason why they can hardly transfer their accounts from the city they have been working back to their home cities. They can only do so by handing in the 20 percent that their working units have paid in the past years to their new accounts in their home cities.

It is a kind of exploitation compounded by discrimination against migrant workers.

Of the nearly 5 million in pension insurance schemes in the city of Shenzhen in 2007, the number of people who have quit and withdrawn their payment amounted to 830,000. Almost all were migrant workers.

Undoubtedly something must be done to fix the scheme and make it possible for migrant workers to transfer their pension accounts, including the amount of money their working units have paid for them, to their home cities. Those who are several years away from the 15-year time limit should also be allowed to make the rest of the payment at one go so that they can get pension after retirement.

The good news is that two documents concerning the transfer of pension insurance accounts and other related problems for migrant workers are in the making and will be released by the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Hopefully, the documents to be adopted will end the discriminatory treatment of migrant workers and relieve them of their worries about life after retirement.