'Ant tribe' needs better avenues

Rather than being pessimistic about their current difficulties, the "ant tribe" (low-income college graduates who settle for poverty-level existence in cities in the hope of building a bright future) should see them as an opportunity for self-development. But, at the same time, the authorities should take steps to ensure the "ant tribe" gets an equal opportunity to excel in all fields of life, says an article on rednet.cn Excerpts:

The China Youth Development Report 2013 shows that Beijing has up to 160,000 "ant tribe" members. Such people have a monthly average salary of 4,133 yuan ($673.8), and more than 70 percent of them have to do with less than 10 square meters of living space.

It's not unusual for a metropolis like Beijing, which has a population of about 20 million, to have 160,000 "ant tribe" members. In fact, many newcomers to mega cities don't mind starting life from the bottom as long as they have the hope of building a better future.

But still the presence of 160,000 "ant tribe" members in the capital cannot be accepted as a normal phenomenon, especially because doubts have been raised on whether they can really climb up the social and economic ladder. After all, it is becoming increasingly difficult for such people to free themselves of the underclass label.

So the government should reflect on the social problems behind the "ant tribe" phenomenon and ensure that it gets the opportunities to climb up the social and economic ladder by distributing social resources in a balanced manner.