Part I of Wei Jiayu: statistical discrepancies and systemic barriers of China's migrant and left-behind children
NGO Leader in Beijing sheds light on the complexities of the scope and classification of migrant and left-behind children.
Hi, this is Yuxuan Jia in Beijing. Following the publication of Professor Lu Ming's advocacy for "spatial restructuring" in China's urbanization process and Professor Zhang Dandan's study on adulthood criminality among left-behind children, the third installment of the April 27 online seminar organized by Hongfan Legal and Economics Studies will delve deeper into the statistical details and educational challenges faced by left-behind and migrant children in China.
The speaker, Wei Jiayu, is a Physics graduate student turned NGO leader and currently serves as the Secretary-General of the Beijing Sanzhi Center for Unprivileged Children, formerly known as the New Citizen Program. Sanzhi is committed to raising awareness of issues in children's education through research, communication, and public advocacy. One of their major initiatives is the Wei Lan Program, where Sanzhi staff collaborate with teaching staff, community centers, and volunteers in low-fee private schools. These schools are often the only option for many unregistered migrant children in China, but they suffer from a lack of resources and facilities and face constant risk of being shut down due to their unlicensed status.
This is the first part of Wei's presentation. Part Two and his discussion with Wang Yong, Director of Hongfan Legal and Economics Studies and Professor of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law, who moderated the seminar, will be released shortly. A text transcript of the seminar was provided by Hongfan, and the video recording of the seminar remains available online.
Wei's presentation delves deep into the nuances of children with migrant parents in China, which consist of two primary groups: migrant children and left-behind children. Broadly speaking, migrant children live away from their registered households (hukou), while left-behind children remain in rural areas without one or both parents who have migrated for work.
However, the classification is complicated by China's geographic divisions—cities, towns, and villages. Children in towns might be grouped with those in villages under the broad "rural" category, obscuring differences in living conditions and education.
The scope of migration further complicates the situation. Wei notes that the Ministry of Education of China uses a narrower scope for categorization which likely leads to lower estimates compared to other sources. For migrant children, the Ministry's focus is often on those who have moved from rural areas to counties or nearby small cities, excluding those moving from counties to larger cities or from smaller cities to bigger cities. For left-behind children, the Ministry's statistics typically concentrate on left-behind children in rural areas, excluding those in urban areas.
Migrant children often face difficulties accessing education and essential services in cities due to their hukou registration. This system ties public services to one's registered location, preventing these children from enrolling in or transferring to schools in other areas. Additionally, families must make early decisions to ensure their children's eligibility for the Gaokao, often necessitating a return to their registered "hometowns" for high school. This can lead to feelings of alienation as the children may not be familiar at all with these areas.
I would like to share some of my thoughts on a broader topic of "the education of children with migrant parents."
In China, the term "migrant population" has a unique connotation—it does not necessarily imply current movement. China's migrant population is somewhat analogous to immigrants in Western countries. Many migrants have an ambiguous status; they may be born and raised in one place but are considered migrants simply because they lack local household registration (hukou).
This issue is tied to the broader context of China's current background and children's education issues. There are two main aspects to this. In recent years, the term "China on the Move" has gained more acceptance and carries a positive connotation. For instance, President Xi Jinping [in his 2019 New Year Speech] said, "China, as a country of people on the move, is energetically pursuing prosperity." In 2021, Dragon TV [the Shanghai provincial satellite TV station] produced a documentary titled "China on the Move."
However, when discussing education or the migrant population, another aspect becomes apparent, highlighting challenges and a lack of acceptance of mobility. Although previous speakers have already dealt with the issue of migrant and left-behind children, I would like to provide a more detailed explanation today. Public information offers various sources of data on the same topic, such as left-behind children. Understanding the origins of these discrepancies is essential.
Differing statistics of migrant and left-behind children in China
Professor Lu discussed data from the 2020 national census, along with reports by Lu Lidan, the National Bureau of Statistics, and UNICEF, focusing on China's child population in 2020. This data is highly detailed. Generally, discussions about China often focus on the urban-rural dichotomy. However, administratively, China is divided into cities, towns, and villages. Towns typically include townships and counties. It is important to distinguish these categories because each has different characteristics.
This graph depicts the distribution of children based on their household registration (hukou) status. On the right, there are over 70 million migrant children—those residing away from their registered households. On the left, the chart shows children whose hukou matches their residence, further divided into left-behind and non-left-behind children based on whether they live with their parents. The primary focus among left-behind children is often on those in rural areas. It is important to note that left-behind children in villages are sometimes incorrectly grouped with those in towns, necessitating a clearer distinction.
There is also a significant number of left-behind children in towns and cities, totaling about 25 million—13 million in towns and 11 million in cities.
Additionally, it is important to consider that the graph is based on population statistics. However, statistics from the Ministry of Education of China often classify towns and villages together as rural, thereby defining rural areas more broadly. According to these Ministry of Education statistics, many children registered in villages attend schools in towns, resulting in fewer students in village schools compared to those in towns and cities. While most students registered in rural areas may attend village schools, a significant number transfer to schools in towns or counties starting from junior high onwards.
This graph helps us understand that migrant children (in blue), left-behind children (in black), and non-left-behind children in villages (in grey) collectively make up about two-thirds of China's child population. Non-left-behind children in cities (in green) account for about one-third. This provides a comprehensive view of the distribution of children in China.
The concept of "left-behind" children is deeply tied to a specific era. When rural workers began migrating for work in the late 1980s and 1990s through to 2000, their children often stayed in their hometowns. This scenario is typically imagined when discussing left-behind children. However, from the children's perspective, the issue fundamentally revolves around separation from their parents, resulting in varying degrees of split families—whether both parents are absent or only one.
According to the UNICEF report, in 2020, there were slightly over 100 million children in China separated from their parents. Of these, around 10% were in single-parent families. As Professor Zhang Dandan noted, while single-parent families are very common in the United States, this is less common in China. In China, about 10% of children are separated from a parent due to single parenthood, and over 80% are affected by parental migration. Among left-behind children, whether one or both parents are absent, all experience some form of separation. Even among the 70 million migrant children, nearly half are not living with one or both parents.
Look at this graph below. Among the total of approximately 138 million children with migrant parents, there are left-behind children in both cities and villages who are not living with both parents.
Recently, the case in Handan in northern China [where three middle-school students allegedly killed a classmate and buried the body] has brought renewed attention to the situation of left-behind children in China. Various data points have been highlighted, so let's break this down further. According to the latest data from Lu Lidan and colleagues based on the 2020 National Census, the left-behind children in villages, represented by the lowest part of the iceberg, number over 40 million. Their living arrangements with their parents need closer examination.
Nearly half of these children live without both parents, often staying with grandparents or other relatives, and some older children may attend high school or vocational school elsewhere. The middle section (shown in blue) represents children whose mothers are away while their fathers or grandparents remain with them. Combining these two groups, about 60-70% of these rural children have at least their mothers absent.
The emphasis on the absence of mothers, though reinforcing stereotypes, is backed by academic research. Studies show that children accompanied only by their fathers do not fare significantly better than those with only grandparents. However, the presence of mothers markedly improves children's conditions. This highlights not an increase in maternal responsibility but rather a need for fathers to step up and fulfill their roles more effectively.
Returning to our previous discussion, the key issue regarding left-behind children is their separation from their parents. This includes the research conducted by Professor Zhang Dandan and her colleagues. On a global scale, such a large-scale separation of children from their parents is virtually unprecedented. China's situation, over such a long period, is quite unique.
The issue of children being separated from their parents is critical from the perspectives of child development and developmental psychology. Research in the West has examined early childhood trauma, one type of which is "neglect." Separation from parents is often considered a form of neglect, depriving children of effective nurturing and companionship essential for their growth. Nurturing refers to physical care, while companionship emphasizes psychological support. Grandparents cannot fully substitute for parental roles unless their involvement is exceptionally effective. However, research indicates that grandparental care is generally less effective than parental care.
The most challenging aspect of this situation is the persistent, mild harm it causes. It's akin to a small cut on a finger that seems insignificant initially but can become a serious issue if it persists for months or years. Similarly, the psychological impact of separation can accumulate over time, becoming more damaging.
Extensive long-term studies on early childhood trauma have been conducted in the West. For example, the UK has several longitudinal studies spanning over 50 years, tracking children's development and recording early childhood trauma indicators. These studies typically define six to seven significant types of early trauma, considering it serious if a child experiences three or four of these. They monitor children's health and income as adults, finding that significant early trauma adversely affects both. The conclusions from these rigorous, long-term, large-scale studies allow us to draw parallels and better understand these issues.
While various methods can mitigate the effects on left-behind children, the paramount importance of parental companionship is undeniable. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the living conditions of these children and the extent of their separation from their parents, which remains a fundamental issue.
Focusing on younger age groups, the 2020 census data reveals that the total number of children aged 0-14 is approximately 110 million. Among these, migrant children constitute about 46%, while left-behind children account for around 60 million, roughly 50-60%. This measurement is referred to as the "togetherness index."
It's important to note that some migrant children also do not live with their parents, meaning the actual index is likely even lower. This "togetherness index" measures the extent to which children live with their parents.
Measuring the "togetherness index" is crucial for understanding the actual situation of children living with their parents across different regions, rather than solely focusing on left-behind children. This is because children are often left behind due to the institutional difficulty of migrating to more developed areas. Based on the seventh census data, two key comparisons emerge:
By Province: Economically developed eastern provinces (e.g., Fujian and Shandong) generally have higher "togetherness indices" compared to the national average. Shandong, a populous province with fewer internal migration restrictions, performs well in this regard. Conversely, more economically developed regions like Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong have lower "togetherness indices." This indicates a higher number of left-behind children in these regions.
By City: The situation is more severe in major cities. In Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, only about 20-30% of migrant children live with their parents. In Shenzhen and Tianjin, this percentage is slightly higher, around 30%, while in Chongqing, it is even higher due to its large area functioning more like a province. Cities like Chengdu and Xiamen also have "togetherness indices" below 40%. This data shows that it is increasingly difficult for parents to bring their children to economically developed cities.
Migrant children in the compulsory education stage
Let's analyze the detailed aspects of children's education, emphasizing the compulsory education stages. Notably, the Ministry of Education focuses on data regarding migrant children who have moved from rural areas to counties or nearby small cities (excluding those moving from counties to cities or from smaller cities to larger cities) and left-behind children in rural areas (excluding left-behind children in urban areas). This limitation in data will be analyzed further.
Starting around 2015, China began efforts to care for left-behind children in rural areas. At least in the statistical data, there is a rapid decline in their numbers. In 2015, statistics from the Ministry of Education indicated there were slightly over 20 million left-behind children. By 2022, this number had decreased to just over 10 million.
Meanwhile, the number of migrant children reported by the Ministry of Education has remained relatively stable, occasionally even decreasing. This trend is unusual given the evident vast migration in China. One would expect a corresponding increase in migrant children as the number of left-behind children decreases, yet this is not observed. Therefore, the data for these two groups appear incomplete.
For a more complete picture, it is necessary to consider data on children with migrant parents in the compulsory education stage as a whole. This group includes not only migrant children moving from rural to urban areas but also those moving from towns to cities or from smaller cities to larger ones. This indicates that population mobility in China is not limited to rural-to-urban migration; urban-to-urban migration is also increasing.
It is important to highlight that when the Ministry of Education discusses the education situation of "migrant children", it only reflects the situation of over 10 million children depicted in the lower-left corner of the chart below. Other segments are not included, indicating an incomplete representation.
The decrease in left-behind children in rural areas is partly due to the rise in migrant children. Additionally, there is another group referred to as "left-behind children in urban areas." These left-behind children may include those who have moved from rural areas to counties or nearby small cities. In population statistics, they are considered migrant children, but in the Ministry of Education statistics, they might not be classified as such.
Furthermore, many children who return to their hometowns to study do not go back to rural areas but to towns or cities. The number of these children might be significant, but it can only be estimated since no statistical data covers it. Overall, the number of children with migrant parents in the compulsory education stage remains around 50 million. This aligns with the 138 million migrant and left-behind children around 2020; otherwise, the data would not match.
Let's revisit the common notion of separation. Migration or being left behind is often a temporary state, with many children frequently moving between these two conditions. What is the trend in these changes?
The transition from primary to junior high school marked a key point. Before 2014, the number of newly enrolled junior high school students among migrant children was higher than the number of primary school graduates. This indicates that junior high schools were relatively more accessible. Even if some children couldn't attend primary school where their parents worked, they had more opportunities to start junior high school in the same location as their parents.
However, in the years following, the number of primary school graduates has been continuously increasing, while the growth in the number of newly enrolled junior high school students has noticeably slowed. By 2022, there were 171,000 more primary school graduates than newly enrolled junior high school students among migrant children. Where did these children go? Many of them might have left their current residence and returned to their so-called "hometowns."
Why are the "hometowns" in quotes? Migrant children are not necessarily returning to their original rural homes. Many were born and raised in their current location, but due to educational discontinuities, they have to leave. Realistically, they leave their city home and move to a place where they have household registration but are not very familiar with, to continue their junior high and senior high school education.
Following this line of thought, let's examine the situation in different regions as of 2022. Most of this "returning to hometowns" happens in large cities, with Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan attracting the most attention. In a previous comparison of 42 cities nationwide, these cities had higher numbers of returning children.
In Suzhou, about 4,000 children leave at the transition from primary to junior high school. In Shanghai, this number used to be nearly 10,000 but has decreased slightly in 2022. In these cities, around 10,000 children leave at the primary-to-junior-high school transition point. Dongguan has even more, with around 20,000 children leaving. As mentioned earlier, the majority of the 170,000 children leaving are from these major core cities.