05.21.07
More facts and figures: Money
The other day I compared the hours worked between a job in a Chinese barber shop, my old American job, and my job as an English teacher in China. Here were the results in case you missed it. As an foreign English teacher in a Chinese university I was working 919 hours per year. As a white collar employee at an American company in the US I was putting in 1936 hours per year. And as a full time barbershop employee for a year I would be clocking 3542 hours.
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| The little brothers and little sisters keep busy doing hair washes. Each head nets about 32 cents. |
Now I want to take a look at the pay if I were to actually work all those 3542 hours.
Most of the income of a little brother or little sister is not fixed. They get 150 RMB ($20 USD) per month in base salary, and the rest is based on how much work they do. The price charged to the customer for a hair wash is 12 RMB ($1.40 USD). Of that charge 2.5 RMB (32 cents) goes to the little brother or little sister who performed the service. Each hair wash service lasts approximately 35 minutes and also includes a massage.
On average each little brother or little sister washes about 150 heads per month, and average pay for a beginning worker comes to between 500 and 600 RMB per month (roughly $70 USD). Bear in mind, this is for a 70 hour work week.
I also should add that when a little brother or little sister begins work at the barber shop, they must go through a probationary period, during which they do not get paid. Once they have become competent at doing hair washes and massages, they can become an official employee and start making money. According to Mr. Zheng this takes anywhere between 2 weeks and 2 months depending on how fast the new worker learns.
Little brothers and little sisters can increase their incomes by learning additional skills. Those who have worked in the shop for several years and can do dyes and perms earn 6% of all the charges for the services they do. So for a 300 RMB ($40 USD) dye, there is a payout of 18 RMB ($2.40 USD). Therefore the higher ranking little brothers and sisters are able to make around 1000 RMB per month ($131 USD) per month.
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| Would I really want to do this 70 hours a week for 24 cents an hour? |
If we use myself as an example, and assume I were to work at the barbershop for one year, making 600 RMB per year and accounting for the first month going unpaid, my hourly rate would be 1.86 RMB per hour. That comes out to a walloping 24.47 cents per hour.
I should add that even though this job pays less than a quarter an hour, by all my observations so far, it does provide what I would consider a living wage to its employees. This is assuming they do not have any dependents, which none of the little brothers and sisters do. Employees are all offered free housing in an 3 bedroom unfinished apartment which serves as the “dormitory” for the barbershop. Currently 8 of the 10 little brothers and sisters plus the 2 managers and 1 of the barbers live in the dormitory. One little brother and one little sister live with their relatives, and 4 of the 5 barbers rent their own housing. While 11 people sharing a 3 bedroom unfinished apartment with one bathroom may sound like unbearable conditions for us Westerners, this really is not that out-of-the-ordinary in China.
To be fair we also need to consider that living in China is much cheaper than it is in the US. For food, Mr. Zheng hires an “a yi” (maid) to cook meals for the employees. For a fee of 200 RMB ($26 USD), per month the employees get lunch and dinner every day of the week. That comes to 3.33 RMB (40 cents) per meal. For comparison sake, when I was working my job in the American company, I would frequently eat lunch at the Lucky Dragon Chinese Buffet. The cost was $5.99, which plus tax and tip usually came out to $8 per meal.
Another big question which might arise out of this is what about healthcare benefits? This is a big problem for us Americans, a non-issue for Canadians, and one which certainly pertains to China which does not have government provided healthcare. Living in the US we are accustomed to astronomical healthcare costs, which when paid out of pocket, can easily bankrupt an entire family. While I do not want to say healthcare for Chinese people is cheap (it definitely is if you are on a Western income), the prices are not as astronomical as they are in the US, even when you account for income differences. In the case of an unexpected medical expense, typical protocol is to borrow money from a family member.
So what does these figures tell me? Working as a little brother or little sister in the barbershop provides just enough money to survive off of, but certainly not much more than that. My coworkers are able to take occasional trips to the net bar, go out for a nice meal once or twice a month, and maybe save 100 RMB here and there, but they also only have 2 or 3 sets of clothes, sleep on beds without mattresses, and never have the means to take a vacation.
Yinzer
said,
May 21, 2007 at 6:36 am
Interesting….I never knew that there was a per-wash commission paid out. In Shanghai when going to the barber I sometimes skipped the hair wash and almost always the massage. It’s something I just didn’t know until now. Interesting stuff…keep it coming.
Wang Lu
said,
May 21, 2007 at 9:45 am
Hi,Ben, i found your nice blog from Tianyaclub.
u are a good writer and from your article i can learn more about the workers working in a barborshop, even though i am a Chinese, i have little knowledge of the lives those people have. Also, by reading your writings, i can get some new words and expressions here, a good way for improving English too! Thanks!
And there is one thing i should admit that not all the Chinese employees( no matter what kind of job they take, brainworkers or laborworkers) would enjoy the healthcare benefits from the country! Not all of us can get the medicalcare privileges. It is really a pity thing. and also, the tax burden on Chinese people is much higher than people from Western countries.
Anyway, i believe things would get much better few years later!^^
doom
said,
May 21, 2007 at 10:23 am
Just wanted to let you know that I went back and read all your entries about the barbershop. Great stuff. It’s given me some insight into how the average worker gets along. I find the financial information compelling and humbling. Also, what you said about laborers or workers being treated different by people who were more wealthy, educated, connected is something I noticed many times, even from my close Chinese friends, in China, but I wonder now if me or my Western friends were just as rude at times without realizing it. Gave me something to think about. Anyway, keep up the good work, and I’ll keep reading.
Ning Jiang
said,
May 21, 2007 at 12:04 pm
昨天准时收看小Ben同志的节目啦~~之前我和陈曦还很担心你和她呢，不过昨天听你说“I love her”我真的很高兴呢，下个月去福州找你们玩哦~~by the way,你发型很酷啦~~
Ron Frost
said,
May 21, 2007 at 2:23 pm
It’s probably worth noting that this is well below the legal minimum wage (which is 5.5 RMB/hour in Fuzhou according to http://english.xm.gov.cn/Xiamen_News/200609/t20060904_78143.htm ). I know that accomodation and food must count for something, but surely not enough to take it over this threshold.
Steven
said,
May 21, 2007 at 4:11 pm
it seems like a “hand-to-mouth” life for these kids earning such a small income, and needing to survive in increasingly expensive cities.
i guess these guys and girls live in shared bedrooms in a modest or bare apartment. but that will still cost 200 to 300rmb per month (seems to be the rate here in Suzhou). take away the money paid to employers for food, healthcare levies (also something not done in the UK), taxes, other food and necessities, and they’re saving almost nothing.
Jas
said,
May 21, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Hi Ben,
This is the first time for me to read your blog. I am totally impressed! You did a great job!
It is great courage and strength for you, a westerner who is suppose to be “spoiled” as well, to make this movement( work in a barber’s shop) and have all these insights of the ordinary people’s life. I will never know this much about the life in barbers if not your specific comparison by all this accurate numbers. Through your vivid description and humorous language, we can see the hardship of their life, but also can fell the passion of youth, the bitter-sweet of people purchasing their dreams. Not mention about the happy and crazy barbecue party you had in forest park, and the horrified snake slaughter scene you depicted.
Keep on your journal, this will be such a great experience and a great pleasure for us to read too.
Ed Shred
said,
May 21, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Very quick point that caught my eye: on the subject of healthcare, it is true that it is much cheaper in China. But the quality is much much lower. There is also no such thing as medical negligence as far as I am aware.
The prices for western standard healthcare are high by world standards (ecluding the US).
Kate
said,
May 21, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Hey, Ben! You got covered in Shanghaiist today! Congrats!
Swiss James
said,
May 28, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Add me to your list of admirers for doing this fascinating blog.
Do people in Fuzhou ever tip? Do any of the tips get kicked back down to the little brothers and sisters? Do you get many foreigners in your shop?
Keep up the good work
Benjamin Ross
said,
May 28, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Swiss James-
As a general rule, there is no tipping in China. The only places where tipping might be common are places which cater to a largely Western clientelle, but these are few and far between. However, sometimes customers will bring small gifts, such as specialty snacks or cigarettes in for their barber, or sometimes even for a little brother or little sister. However, I think these gifts function more as a friendly gesture to a friend rather than as a monetary payment.
TheUsualSuspects
said,
June 2, 2007 at 12:31 am
Healthcare is a non-issue in Canada? Hardly. There is a waiting list in Canada that can keep you from getting the care you need when you need it. I’m amazed at how many people think the healthcare is free in Canada. It is not. You must pay for shots, drugs, surgeries, etc. I will also point out that the tax rate in Canada is very high. There is no such thing as free healthcare. I will also point out that the tax burden in China is not higher than that in USA as one of your commenters mistakenly said. Otherwise, your experience in China is similar to mine, except I’m much older and do not have a political agenda to support.