They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 20

CCR CSR | A Study on Migrant Workers with Left-behind Children in China | August 2013
It should be added that male migrant workers in general had more positive
CCR CSR | A Study on Migrant Workers with Left-behind Children in China | August 2013
Figure 5: Impact of migrant labor on parent-child relationships
90%
feelings about the situation, with some fathers going as far as to say that the
migration had a good influence on their relationships with children. The male 80%
migrant workers were focused on economic factors, and as such were far less 70%
sensitive about parent-children relationships than female migrant workers. 60%
Another finding was that in both the PRD and in Chongqing, better-educated 50%
migrant workers (college-level and above) were more likely to be dissatisfied 40%
with their family relationships. 30%
20%
Jiang Shuilian’s oldest son is now 18 years old, but she says she is still sad
10%
when she remembers having to wait until he was six, before he could join her
in the city. She says at that time the boy disliked her and wanted to go back to
the village. It took him about three months to get used to life in the city. Jiang
thinks that because she did not spend time with him when he was little, the
boy refused to listen to her. Because of this, Jiang has looked after her other,
younger son, since he was very young.
0%
More
communication No effects Less
communication N/A
Pearl River Delta area: Migrant parents
having children left in hometown 5% 6% 86% 3%
Pearl River Delta area: Migrant parents
keeping children with them 26% 23% 46% 5%
Chongqing area: Migrant parents
having children left in hometown 6% 13% 80% 1%
Chongqing area: Migrant parents
keeping children with them 10% 18% 70% 2%
Figure 6: Changes in family relations based on length of separation
Parents of left-
behind children
Length of
separation Reduced
intimacy No effect Improved
intimacy No
opinion
Less than 2 years 47% 22% 25% 6%
2-5 years 61% 22% 12% 3%
6-9 years 65% 24% 8% 2%
More than 10 years 74% 15% 9% 2%
28% 33% 11% 17%
36% 57% 7% 0%
6-9 years 52% 38% 6% 4%
Above 10 years 49% 44% 7% 0%
Less than 2 years 60% 18% 16% 6%
2-5 years 54% 29% 14% 0%
6-9 years 61% 20% 17% 0%
Above 10 years 56% 22% 11% 0%
Parents of migrant Less than 2 years
children
2-5 years
Young migrant
workers
18
19