{"id":5867,"date":"2020-08-31T14:56:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T13:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.jomec.co.uk\/life360\/?p=5867"},"modified":"2020-09-10T09:44:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T08:44:45","slug":"living-or-accompanying-choices-that-migrant-workers-families-have-to-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/life360\/living-or-accompanying-choices-that-migrant-workers-families-have-to-make\/","title":{"rendered":"For migrant workers, staying in the rural area means endless poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why did rural parents who moved to cities for employment make such a decision at the expense of their rewarding family life?<\/em><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is 9 PM and after a busy day it is time for Guozhen Wu to video call with her son, Xiaoshan. She is wearing her son’s favourite red dress as she sits on the sofa waiting for Xiaoshan to call. For Guozhen, this is the most anticipated moment of her day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Mum, the summer vacation is coming soon, and I want to spend with you and Dad. When will you come to pick me up?” Xiaoshan asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guozhen said that her son looks forward to the summer vacation more so than any other time of the year. In the past, she would have taken Xiaoshan with them to Kunming, the city they are currently working in, for two months. However, this year they are unable to do this because of the pandemic. When he was told the bad news, Xiaoshan looked very unhappy and so Guozhen promised that the next time they see each other, she will take him to buy his favorite Spider-Man figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I have not seen him for three months, and I miss my son so much,” Guozhen said. She then said, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When I missed him before, I could only look at his picture on my phone. Now we can use WeChat to talk to him every day if he is not around us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xiaoshan still lives and studies in his hometown with his grandparents, but his mother Guozhen and father, Wang Hao, live and work in Kunming, 500 kilometers away from Xiaoshan where they run and own a breakfast store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business is good for the family and this allows Guozhen to send 5,000 Chinese yuan (550 pounds) home every month to cover the living expenses for Xiaoshan and his grandparents. However, Guozhen still feels very helpless and sad that she has had to give up raising her son directly just to make money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I made choices many times. Every time I return to my hometown to work because I cannot bear to leave my children alone. However, we could only earn 3,000 yuan (350 pounds) a month in my hometown, so we finally had to leave because the salary was insufficient to support our family, “Said Guozhen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"