China / Society

A child's life of fear, insecurity and misery

By Xu Wei and Wang Xiaodong (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-06-18 15:27

Migrant workers talk about their left-behind children

A child's life of fear, insecurity and misery

Qiu Yuying, 42 and mother of two, is from a village of Xiaogang, Hubei province and now works on construction sites laying bricks in Shijiazhuang, capital of North China's Hebei province. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

My husband and I began working away from our hometown 14 years ago. At the time, my daughter was only three years old. We had to make two ends meet and in our hometown, we could hardly achieve that. Five years ago, we had another child, a boy.

My two children are taken care of by their grandparents. It takes around a 10-hour train journey from my work place.

We stay at home at least six months in a year to take care of my two children, and call them every three days. But we find that not enough.

We have no going-out plan for the next year or the greater future. We owe them too much and want to be with them.

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