What’s trending?

The Beijing government will offer cash bonuses of up to 400 yuan ($61) to domestic workers who remain in the Chinese capital over the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

What’s the story?

According to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the cash won’t directly be paid to workers, but will be channeled through government-registered home support agencies. Live-in domestic support staff who work for more than 18 days during the 22 days from Feb. 4 to Feb. 26 will be able to claim the full 400 yuan. Hourly staff may claim no more than 25 yuan per day, with a maximum reward of 400 yuan in total per person.

Many domestic workers are migrants to the capital and return to their hometowns for traditional family reunions during the Lunar New Year holiday.

A report from the Ministry of Commerce of China showed that in 2017, there was a shortage of 200,000 to 300,000 domestic workers in Beijing. According to 58.com, one of the biggest job search websites in China, the demand for domestic services in the country’s largest cities has increased steadily year on year. However, domestic workers in Beijing earned less than their peers in other first-tier cities — Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai — netting an average of 5,500 yuan a month compared with paychecks of about 9,000 yuan in Shenzhen.

What are people saying online?

Some commenters online believed the government was being too tightfisted. “400 yuan? That’s not even enough for one high-speed train ticket,” read one popular comment. Another user on Weibo said that “400 isn’t enough incentive for people to stay in Beijing.”

But some also said that the government had done enough. One comment read that “the 400 yuan was merely from the government. The hirers would normally pay twice as much as usual. It’s enough.”