Neglect and Discrimination are Often the Fate of Migrant Children
Posted by Allison Friday, 13 November 2009 18:52
As China’s government struggles to reform its broken hukou system, millions of migrant children suffer the consequences of the anachronistic laws.
The tall tower crane extends to face the sky, the song begins, and it is possible because of them, the migrant workers. They are farmers who have left the countryside and traveled long distances and whose labors are building China’s cities. The song, named 'nongmin gong'--the Chinese term for migrant workers--was written two years ago to praise the workers and spotlight their contributions; a music video quickly followed. Missing from it, however, are scenes of the sacrifices they have had to make and of the cost borne by their children.
One of the few children who appears in the video is being cared for by a nanny who is a migrant worker. The absence of the children of migrant workers is unintentionally symbolic.
(The original online version of this article includes a video.)
The song 'Nongmin gong' and its music video were made to praise China's migrant workers, but images of their children and the sacrifices they have had to make are missing.
Photo by peiqianlong
Skyscrapers, symbols of China’s rise, multiply by the day. They rise and factories hum only because of the sweat and sacrifice of migrant workers from the countryside. More than 130 million have moved to urban areas in recent years. They arrive, clamoring for work in factories and on construction sites, usually making more money than is available back in their villages. Even so, leaving home was difficult for many of these migrants, especially for those with children.
Sometimes leaving their children is the only sensible choice available to migrant workers. According to a study by an All-China Women’s Federation research team in 2008, this is the fate of an estimated 58 million children who stay behind, usually in the care of relatives.
“For children left behind, there are long periods of separation between children and their parents and those children will not be able to get enough attention from their parents, which is critical for their development,” said Yao Lu, a Columbia University sociologist.
Children who accompany their parents, though, sometimes suffer neglect as well. In addition, they often confront social discrimination and denial of basic benefits. Still, many parents have no one in their villages to leave children with or are committed to building a new urban life for their families. And so they bring their children along; families now constitute about 25% of the entire migrant population. In a 2005 survey, one-third of such families said they planned to stay in the cities.
“Most children prefer to go with their parents into the cities,” said Qiaobing Wu, a doctoral candidate in social work at the University of Southern California. Wu surveyed 815 Chinese migrant children in 14 Shanghai schools in 2008. Both parents and children, she said, “believe there are more opportunities for them.”
The children migrants bring with them to the cities, however, often fare no better than the children left behind in rural areas.
Wu said the migrant children she studied showed hostility towards society, the city itself and other people. They also exhibited lower life satisfaction and more depression symptoms than local children.
Like the children left behind, children brought into the cities still have limited contact with their parents. Parents may leave for work before children are awake for school and come home after children are already asleep; these are Chinese latchkey kids.
Migrant children are often unable to assimilate and interact with local children; according to a China Labour Bulletin survey, 50 percent of migrant students in Guangdong province said they played only with other migrant children. A 2006 study by the China Youth Research Centre found that 63% of local urban children participated in extracurricular activities compared to just 34% of migrant children.
These are not the only social issues these students have to worry about. Though there are more educational and economic opportunities in urban areas, migrant children are often limited by China’s hukou (household registration) system.
The system, in which every individual in China is linked to a particular household and location, allows the state to control the movement of people as well as regulate access to resources such as healthcare and education. The hukou system institutionalizes different treatment of people depending on their place of birth and the status of their parents. Those from the countryside are essentially second-class citizens.
Photo by Yinggniy
“For migrant children, our lives and circumstances can't compare to those of Shanghai children,” Liu Ming, a Shanghai migrant child, told a Xinhua News Agency reporter in 2006. “They eat better than us; they live in buildings with multiple rooms; they go to proper schools.
“We eat worse than they do; we live worse than they do; we go to migrant children school. Shanghainese people look down on us, but one day, they will see.”
This discrimination against migrant children is most evident in education. The U.S.-based group Human Rights in China estimates there are 1.8 million migrant children between six and 14 years old who are not going to school at all, even though education is mandatory for all Chinese children through grade 9. These numbers, however, are based on incomplete statistics and the organization says the real figures could be much higher.
Migrant children in the cities do not qualify to attend public schools on the same basis as children whose parents are registered there. In some places there are schools set up specifically for migrant children, but many say they lack resources and provide subpar education services.
“[The schools] are unable to get the local funding to set up the facilities and there are poor quality teachers,” Columbia’s
Lu said. “Most of the teachers are migrant workers themselves or community volunteers.”
Photo by flickr.com/chinacoop
Geoffrey Crothall of China Labour Bulletin agrees, “The teaching staff is often unqualified…there’s a high staff turnover.” Beyond that, the facilities are a problem. “Very often, the buildings themselves are converted factories or warehouses,” Crothall notes. “[They are] very poor quality buildings that aren’t structurally safe.
In a report, Human Rights in China said one reason for the lack of adequate schooling and facilities is that “local authorities want to deter migrants with families from settling in the cities where they work.” In some instances, migrant children are technically allowed to attend the public schools, but are effectively kept out by unaffordable fees.
Posted by Allison Friday, 13 November 2009 18:52
As China’s government struggles to reform its broken hukou system, millions of migrant children suffer the consequences of the anachronistic laws.
The tall tower crane extends to face the sky, the song begins, and it is possible because of them, the migrant workers. They are farmers who have left the countryside and traveled long distances and whose labors are building China’s cities. The song, named 'nongmin gong'--the Chinese term for migrant workers--was written two years ago to praise the workers and spotlight their contributions; a music video quickly followed. Missing from it, however, are scenes of the sacrifices they have had to make and of the cost borne by their children.
One of the few children who appears in the video is being cared for by a nanny who is a migrant worker. The absence of the children of migrant workers is unintentionally symbolic.
(The original online version of this article includes a video.)
The song 'Nongmin gong' and its music video were made to praise China's migrant workers, but images of their children and the sacrifices they have had to make are missing.
Photo by peiqianlong
Skyscrapers, symbols of China’s rise, multiply by the day. They rise and factories hum only because of the sweat and sacrifice of migrant workers from the countryside. More than 130 million have moved to urban areas in recent years. They arrive, clamoring for work in factories and on construction sites, usually making more money than is available back in their villages. Even so, leaving home was difficult for many of these migrants, especially for those with children.
Sometimes leaving their children is the only sensible choice available to migrant workers. According to a study by an All-China Women’s Federation research team in 2008, this is the fate of an estimated 58 million children who stay behind, usually in the care of relatives.
“For children left behind, there are long periods of separation between children and their parents and those children will not be able to get enough attention from their parents, which is critical for their development,” said Yao Lu, a Columbia University sociologist.
Children who accompany their parents, though, sometimes suffer neglect as well. In addition, they often confront social discrimination and denial of basic benefits. Still, many parents have no one in their villages to leave children with or are committed to building a new urban life for their families. And so they bring their children along; families now constitute about 25% of the entire migrant population. In a 2005 survey, one-third of such families said they planned to stay in the cities.
“Most children prefer to go with their parents into the cities,” said Qiaobing Wu, a doctoral candidate in social work at the University of Southern California. Wu surveyed 815 Chinese migrant children in 14 Shanghai schools in 2008. Both parents and children, she said, “believe there are more opportunities for them.”
The children migrants bring with them to the cities, however, often fare no better than the children left behind in rural areas.
Wu said the migrant children she studied showed hostility towards society, the city itself and other people. They also exhibited lower life satisfaction and more depression symptoms than local children.
Like the children left behind, children brought into the cities still have limited contact with their parents. Parents may leave for work before children are awake for school and come home after children are already asleep; these are Chinese latchkey kids.
Migrant children are often unable to assimilate and interact with local children; according to a China Labour Bulletin survey, 50 percent of migrant students in Guangdong province said they played only with other migrant children. A 2006 study by the China Youth Research Centre found that 63% of local urban children participated in extracurricular activities compared to just 34% of migrant children.
These are not the only social issues these students have to worry about. Though there are more educational and economic opportunities in urban areas, migrant children are often limited by China’s hukou (household registration) system.
The system, in which every individual in China is linked to a particular household and location, allows the state to control the movement of people as well as regulate access to resources such as healthcare and education. The hukou system institutionalizes different treatment of people depending on their place of birth and the status of their parents. Those from the countryside are essentially second-class citizens.
Photo by Yinggniy
“For migrant children, our lives and circumstances can't compare to those of Shanghai children,” Liu Ming, a Shanghai migrant child, told a Xinhua News Agency reporter in 2006. “They eat better than us; they live in buildings with multiple rooms; they go to proper schools.
“We eat worse than they do; we live worse than they do; we go to migrant children school. Shanghainese people look down on us, but one day, they will see.”
This discrimination against migrant children is most evident in education. The U.S.-based group Human Rights in China estimates there are 1.8 million migrant children between six and 14 years old who are not going to school at all, even though education is mandatory for all Chinese children through grade 9. These numbers, however, are based on incomplete statistics and the organization says the real figures could be much higher.
Migrant children in the cities do not qualify to attend public schools on the same basis as children whose parents are registered there. In some places there are schools set up specifically for migrant children, but many say they lack resources and provide subpar education services.
“[The schools] are unable to get the local funding to set up the facilities and there are poor quality teachers,” Columbia’s
Lu said. “Most of the teachers are migrant workers themselves or community volunteers.”
Photo by flickr.com/chinacoop
Geoffrey Crothall of China Labour Bulletin agrees, “The teaching staff is often unqualified…there’s a high staff turnover.” Beyond that, the facilities are a problem. “Very often, the buildings themselves are converted factories or warehouses,” Crothall notes. “[They are] very poor quality buildings that aren’t structurally safe.
In a report, Human Rights in China said one reason for the lack of adequate schooling and facilities is that “local authorities want to deter migrants with families from settling in the cities where they work.” In some instances, migrant children are technically allowed to attend the public schools, but are effectively kept out by unaffordable fees.
