China’s children count the cost

Quote
“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.”  Charles Darwin

News

The number of children in China left behind by their migrant worker parents is similar to the entire population of Italy.  China’s economic powerhouse has led to the amassing of vast foreign currency reserves (enough to buy Italy’s national debt twice over), but what are the true costs of this growth rate, and how sustainable is it? 

The plight of the ‘left behind children’ tells another side of the story.  There are 242 million migrant workers in China’s cities, but the parents among them have left 58 million children home alone in rural areas.  69% of these children stay with their grandparents, 24% live with one parent, 4% are cared for by other relatives, while the remaining 3% (1.5 million children) are left to fend for themselves.

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences state that the left behind children’s education, mental health and character development all suffer from a lack of parental involvement, attention and affection.  These children are also expected to help with farm work, and in caring for the elderly.  Remittances sent back to villages do bring a measure of rural development, but in the long term the relational cost may outweigh the economic benefits.

A major problem is the hukow system of household registration, which makes it very difficult for migrant families to register in cities and become eligible for public housing or education.  Effectively, the policy of maximising economic growth has driven a wedge between urban residents and migrant workers, who are viewed more as human capital than members of the growing community.

More damaging though is the tendency for rapid growth to weaken the informal, family based welfare system which cares for the old, the sick, those out of work and children.  Sustainable economic growth can only be ensured by keeping social overheads low, which depends on family welfare structures remaining viable; otherwise the burden of welfare has to be taken over by the government, leading to higher taxes and reduced competitiveness.

One in four rural Chinese children are currently ‘left behind’; if the relational costs of massive migration are not properly considered, and economic growth slowed down to a socially sustainable level, then China will end up with deep economic as well as social problems in 20 years from now.

Read on

Relationships Global has just released its most significant report to date on the impact of aid and development policy on family relationships.  Download “Moving the Goalposts: moving the family to the heart of development strategy” here, and read Chapter 7 on Migration (pages 42-48).

Walk the talk

Work usually takes us away from home, but for most people that is only on a daily basis; if you are considering longer trips away from home, or even migration to another country for economic reasons, have you factored in not only the short term pain of separation, but the long term relational consequences that might arise?

The last word
From the Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:14 “Children shouldn't have to provide for their parents, but parents should provide for their children.”