They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 36

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
saying they missed their children and felt extremely sad, and 43% saying In 2011, the overall number of migrant workers leaving their own province for
they were “anxious.” work dropped nationwide. This marked a symbolic tipping point in the national
pattern of migration, where for the first time, majority of migrant workers
Guilt and a sense of not doing the right thing were felt most strongly by
were working in their home province.
parents of left-behind children. Such feelings were common with regard to
children in every age group but especially prevalent (77%) among parents Over half of the workers interviewed for this study believed that the parents
of 11 to 14-year-old, left-behind children, who began to enter adolescence. needed their children’s love and presence, and that the pain and psychological
They often experienced a host of emotional and personal problems, and the pressure of separation had a significant impact. The parents of migrant
consequences of separation from the parents could become highly problematic. children in particular said they did not mind the extra work and burden
required to keep their children by their side. Despite more hectic schedules
“I heard that when they call home, their kids sometimes are not very
and very little time to themselves, they felt happier.
responsive,” says a factory manager, puzzling over the hardships of being
a parent of left-behind children. “If you make a phone call and your child “Even though I’m absolutely exhausted, when I get off work I have to do the
doesn’t really want to talk to you, it must be a horrible feeling.” laundry, take a shower and even if it’s 10 pm, I have to watch over my boy
doing his homework before I can sleep. But the fact that I can be with my
Interviews made it clear that migrant workers who had actually experienced
child means that I feel content,” says migrant worker Jiang Shuilian.
such feelings found it hard to talk about. One couple started out working
at the factory floor before gradually working their way up to positions of “If the whole family was together, then at least I could talk to them and look
managerial assistants. They are a success story compared to many other after my child a little better,” says Ou Haisheng, describing his greatest wish.
workers, but their oldest child refuses to talk to them. He is cold, and often “My eldest daughter is back home in the downtown area, my own parents are
even hostile. at home in the countryside, and we [Ou’s younger daughter and the couple
themselves] are in City Z. The family is in three different places, and it really
“We have to make sure he has what he needs; we’re his mum and dad, if doesn’t feel good. When my children are with us, no matter how hard things
not that then we’re nothing,” they say. When we asked what they plan to are and how tired you are, it’s good to see your kids and chat with them;
do about the relationship, they shake their heads and gaze blankly into the at least you feel a little more relaxed. If my kids aren’t with me, I’m always
distance. “It’s not going to change; there’s nothing we can do about it …” having negative thoughts at the factory. I feel lonely and I miss my children. I
can’t always be calling them, and we can’t coordinate our time to talk either …
As mentioned before, parents of left-behind children in the PRD were much if there were jobs back at home then I’d definitely quit and go back home to
more likely to feel guilt, loss, sadness and inadequacy than parents in find work so I could be closer to my children. The last time I came back from
Chongqing. Distance is clearly a very important factor, since it makes frequent Hebei, I was always thinking about how there was no one to look after my
visits home difficult, and as western and central regions of China (including daughter. I missed her and she missed me too.”
Chongqing) began to industrialize, increasing number of migrant workers
chose to find employment closer to home.
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