They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 18

CCR CSR | A Study on Migrant Workers with Left-behind Children in China | August 2013
CCR CSR | A Study on Migrant Workers with Left-behind Children in China | August 2013
Figure 2: Initial reasons for becoming a migrant worker (multiple choice)
The initial reason to become a migrant
worker
Figure 4: Job-seeking methods (multiple choice)
Young migrant workers
Parent migrant
workers
Improved self-development 67% 40%
To support parents 44% 46%
Lack of opportunities in hometown 19% 45%
Don’t know 19% 10%
Unemployment among friends 17% 10%
Save money to build a home, buy equipment
for improved agricultural production 15% 25%
Enjoy city life 13% 6%
Escape from family and social problems 6% 2%
A better life for children 3% 58%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Figure 3: Subsequent reasons for becoming a migrant worker (multiple choice)
0%
Subsequent reasons for becoming
a migrant worker
Young migrant workers Parent migrant workers
Improved self-development 60% 34%
To support parents 40% 29%
Lack of opportunities in hometown 31% 60%
Enjoy city life 18% 9%
No change from original reason 13% 13%
Staying on without goals 9% 5%
Better education for children 8% 64%
Parents of left-
behind children
Parents of
migrant children
Young migrant
workers
Relatives
and friends The network The
newspaper By street
signs Mediation
or the labor
market Unified
introduction
from school Labor
dispatch of
home town
govement
organization Factory
direct hire
54% 10% 2% 12% 16% 6% 3% 31%
48% 14% 2% 13% 18% 7% 1% 30%
42% 18% 2% 6% 20% 35% 2% 26%
However, regardless of whether parents were able to take their children with
them, most have described a strong negative impact which migration had on
parent-child intimacy and communication. Overall, more than half of migrant
workers were dissatisfied with the relationships with their children, while 40%
said that their relationships had become more remote since they took up work
2.3 The impact of migrant labour on families and children
in the city (Figure 5). The situation was particularly hard for the parents of left-
behind children, where the feeling of a reduced family intimacy grew the longer
The majority of migrant workers (60%) agreed that working away from home
the parents were away.
had a positive financial impact on their families, and – in case of the migrant
children – could help with broadening the children’s horizons and educational As such, an increasing number of migrant workers were concerned about how
opportunities. to communicate with and to educate their children (Figure 6), particularly in
face of extensive working hours.
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