They are also Parents They Are Also Parents - A Study on Migrant Workers | Page 66

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
daughter is 19 and attending her first year of university, while her second “My eldest daughter is studying in Wuhan, at the Zhongnan University of
daughter is 10, in the fourth grade of primary school. She chose her latest job Economics’ School of Accounting Professionals,” says a proud A-fen. “She
to be “close to my child,” because she now believes that children are always often receives scholarships that almost cover her cost of living. Her grades are
biggest parents’ biggest concern. good. Once she wrote an essay called “Mother’s Love,” which won a prize. All
children need parental love, but education is important too. If children don’t
In 1993, at the age of 20, A-fen and her husband went to work in Fuzhou,
have a good education, they won’t earn a good living.”
Fujian Province. They were there for less than six months. In 1994, A-fen’s
daughter was born, and at first she stayed home to look after her. But, within Today A-fen works in a factory just one hour from home. She come comes
a few months she had to give her daughter to the in-laws, and return to home to visit her daughter on the weekends or whenever she does not have
working life – this time in the PRD. She worried so much she lasted only half a to work overtime. The next day she goes back to work. A-fen’s husband still
year before returning home again. She continued to leave and look for work, farms at home, and if pork prices are good, he can earn CNY20-30,000 a
but it always involved being far from home, and A-fen worried so much about year. The younger daughter studies in the town’s primary school, and she will
her daughter that she generally only lasted half a year. be able to live with here parents in their new house while she attends junior
high, giving the family more opportunities to be together.
In 1998, A Fen and her husband – he works at a construction site – had saved
enough to build a small house in their hometown. When her father died, and
Pseudonyms have been used.
with her mother-in-law getting on, A-fen and husband decided to move back
and find work. That way, she could take care of her daughter, as well as her
mother-in-law. A-fen’s husband farmed at home, keeping a few pigs, and A-fen
worked in Chongqing city, which was just several hours away, allowing her to
go home to see her child and her mother-in-law whenever she had time off. It
is an arrangement that has worked now for more than seven years. She has
worked in garment, shoe, and handbag factories, making up to CNY2,000 a
month, and working as much as 10 hours a day.
A-fen used to bring her daughters to her workplace in Chongqing to play, and
to understand what their mother does. She urges her girls to study hard,
because she knows only education can better their lives. Meanwhile, the
eldest daughter helps bring up the younger, discouraging her from eating
unnecessary snacks, saying, “You’ll eat up all mother’s hard earned money.
The eldest daughter teaches the younger daughter these days. When A-fen
calls, the girls tell her not to work too hard, and say they will help by making
their own money, which makes her happy.
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