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"According to our survey, the average wage for the ant tribe in Beijing is no more than 2,000 yuan, which is lower than the average income of overall Beijing residents."
Giving out the data is Lian Si, a sociologist at the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics.
The phrase "ant tribe" came about from a two-year survey and an anthropological study he published in late 2009.
"In fact, the ant tribe is just a nickname for what we call the group of low income college graduates. They are characterized by high academic qualifications, low salaries, are mostly in their 20s and live in compact communities."
Lian Si says there are about 10 such compact communities in Beijing such as Tangjialing and Xiaoyuehe, which has attracted about 100 thousand ant tribe members. Altogether there are about 1 million ant tribe members nationwide.
The results of Lian's survey indicate that the majority of these young graduates come from rural areas or small cities across China.
They choose to stay on the fringes of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai after graduation, rather than go back to their hometowns.
Zhang, a college graduate from Shandong Province in eastern China, tells us why he has decided to stay in an ant tribe.
"According to the average living standards in Beijing, my current salary is pretty low. However, staying in a big city means I can still have a vast number of opportunities."
More work opportunities is the main reason that members of the ant tribe stay in quickly developing cities. But they are forced to live in lower cost suburban areas.
Lian Si says most members of the ant tribe are from poor rural families and take temporary, low-paid jobs such as insurance agents, electronic products sales representatives and waiters. Some are unemployed or underemployed.
