They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 26

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
never talked about it and he feels that if he knew, he might worry about it. Often, the parents spent an average of 11 hours per day at work, without
12-year-old Liu Xing’s parents only seem to care about his results in school and enough time to attend to their kids, and taking alternate day or night shifts in
how his studies are coming along. Sometimes Liu Xing talks on the phone with order to be able to attend to the children at all.
his big brother, and when they talk, it’s also about how his studies are going.
Parents of left-behind children were 8% more likely than parents of migrant
The examples above suggest that migrant workers have a limited children to feel that they did not know enough to provide proper guidance
understanding of their children’s varied needs, and little ability to to their children. The feelings of failure as parents were visibly higher in the
communicate. Children’s relationships with other relatives, their teachers and Pearl River Delta (by 12%), possibly reflecting the huge impact made by the
classmates and their potential role in healthy development also received very distance from home.
little attention (less than 10% of answers) from the parents.
When the left-behind and migrant children we talked to described their
Majority of migrant workers described themselves as 'inadequate
parents as inadequate, they said that when they missed them or needed their
parents.’
Most parents of left-behind children (82%) and just over half of parents of
migrant children saw themselves as inadequate. The main reasons included
Figure 11: Reasons migrant workers see themselves as inadequate parents
100%
lack of sufficient time to be together and communicate, as well as inability
90%
to provide appropriate guidance and quality education to their kids. Many
workers felt they couldn’t even guarantee their children’s basic health and
80%
material wellbeing.
70%
Figure 10: Migrant workers’ evaluation of how their children perceive them in their roles as parents
60%
Does your child feel that you are adequate parents?
Region
PRD
Chongqing
24
50%
Type of parents Yes I’ve never heard my child
talk about that No
Parents of left-behind
children 14% 42% 44%
40%
30%
20%
Parents of migrant
children 44% 37% 19%
Parents of left-behind
children 19% 39% 42%
Parents of migrant
children 23%
52%
25%
10%
0%
I can't guarantee that
in both material terms
and in terms of their
health that my child is
in an ideal position I can't guarantee
that my child is
receiving a good
education I can't protect my
child against harm I don't feel I have
the ability or the
knowledge I need
to teach my child
properly I don't have much
time together with
my child, we don't
communicate a lot
Parents of left-behind
children 29% 46% 14% 38% 88%
Parents of migrant
children 36% 57% 8% 30% 68%
Young migrant
workers 53% 38% 23% 61% 75%
25