Behind China’s impressive economic rise is the biggest human migration in history. By 2013, some 269m rural residents had become migrant workers in cities, offering cheap labour and sustaining urban growth. However, unable to register and settle their family members in the cities, these migrant workers are forced to leave behind children, spouses, and old people in the villages. This has taken a tremendous toll on the rural society.
Today, there are 61m “left-behind children” and 40m “left-behind elderly” in Chinese villages. Some 79 per cent of the left-behind children are under the care of grandparents, who are often uneducated and lack parenting resources and energy. As a result, the academic scores of 88 per cent of these children fall below what would be the passing line in cities.
The rural elderly, separated from their children, record an average suicide rate of 0.5 per cent, five times the rate for urban elderly. Villages, which have been the backbone of Chinese society for thousands of years, are falling apart. Reality paints a bleak picture of marginalisation, but there exists a beam of hope.