They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 38

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
4. Making the right choice
3.4 Returning back home?
The workers often had no choice but to return home in order to care for their
own ailing parents – who in turn frequently serve as the main caregivers
4.1 Children are a critical factor in migrant workers’ choice of occupation
of the left-behind children. As one of the factory managers stated in the
interview “more than 70% of staff eventually resign to go home and look In both the PRD and Chongqing, and regardless of occupation, stable income
after their parents.” For the parents of migrant children, an additional reason and sufficiently high salaries were a priority for at least half of the migrant
to return home was their inability to buy an affordable housing – often a key workers. A common complaint was that “without extra hours, the basic salary
factor to remaining in the city. is far from sufficient to meet living expenses”, suggesting workers took on
extra hours simply because they had no other alternative.
Figure 21: Return home or remain in the city?
Region
PRD
Chongqing
Workers
In the future workers hope to:
Remain in the city Return home
Parents of left-behind children 27% 73%
Parents of migrant children 63% 37%
Young workers with no children 48% 52%
Parents of left-behind children 47% 53%
Parents of migrant children 63% 37%
Young workers with no children 78% 22%
What’s more, the stability of workers’ incomes was further affected by the
seasonal fluctuation of orders from around the world and the situation
contributed to high turnover rates. “If there’s no extra income from overtime
available for two consecutive months, workers leave straight away”, one
company manager reported.
“Frankly speaking, workers always lack a sense of security, no matter which
company they’re working for. This leads to a lack of a sense of belonging …
and without a sense of belonging, workers are constantly anxious about being
fired,” said one employer in an interview.
The main reason for young migrant workers with no children to return home While the younger workers emphasize their personal career development
is their longing for a familiar environment and way of life. Often they have (56%), migrant worker parents put the well-being of their children first. As
grown up as left-behind or migrant children themselves and their perception such, the stability and level of their income, as well as flexible working hours
of the city is that of a place associated with painful experiences, pressure and support towards children’s education remain at the top of their work-
of competition and polluted environment. This marks a profound lack of related concerns. Because of this, it is in companies’ interest to facilitate
belonging to a place, as well as the wish of young workers to give their own easier childcare and to promote management culture aware and supportive of
children the stable childhoods they never had themselves. the workers’ family related needs.
In terms of regional differences (Figure 23) migrant parents in the PRD prefer
jobs that allow more time for childcare and provide educational assistance,
while those in Chongqing prioritized flexible working hours, allowing to
commute between work and home (since they were generally closer to their
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