Orphans of the Chinese Economy

[Anonymous]

At the same time, the literacy rate and higher education rate is continuing to rise. Of course, small comfort for those who are orphaned by the economic transformation! Still, I hope that the increasing rates of literacy and education will benefit some children.
Still, after hearing so much about Asian educational systems, I was surprised to see that the illiteracy rate
has FALLEN to 8.8 percent for men and 24.5 percent for women.

This was in the context of governmental expansion of mandated free education, (through 9th grade) so presumably, reading between the lines, you cannot keep all those girls slaving away at home anymore!
The government target for 2004 was 15% for post secondary education. I was surprised the goal was not higher, yet, in perspective, 15% of China's population is a hefty number.

For more interesting stats...

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=2242

[Anonymous]

It's interesting to hear other countries and their issues with minimum wage (as compared to the US). Apparently migrant workers in China are clamoring for higher minimum wages----many of these migrants are now crowding the railroad stations trying to find low cost tickets to return to their home towns for the New Year celebrations. They complain that their wages do not cover the cost of food and living expenses. Sound familiar? End of report: We are talking minimum wages of $230.00 a month.
Pat Lamkie

[Anonymous]

Here is a link for the BBC article about economy of China. One wonders is we should still be calling China as a "developing nation"?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16745322

[Anonymous]

It continues to remain that the economy is just another excuse to continue the idea of orphans in China. Before it was an issue of abandonment because you were a female born child and considered useless because you could not do laborious work or carry your family last name.

[Anonymous]

It is unfortunate that the Chinese are allowing this to happen to what I feel is their most precious product. It puzzles me that anyone would simply walk away from their offspring as though they never existed or even worse that they never belonged to them. The Chinese seem to always strive for advancement and to allow parents to turn their back on their own children should be a crime. that doesn't show a determination for progress. What ever happened to "The Children are Our Future?" Some of them will succeed in life and become educated despite their circumstances. The unfortunate part is that these children know that their parents have chosen to leave them behind and go on with their lives.

[Anonymous]

It seems as though "the more things change, the more things stay the same." All the struggles for improvement in societies are riddled with unforseen consequences that are impossible to eradicate. There are so many tragic situations that usually happen to the most vulnerable in our societies (the young, the poor, and the elderly). These orphaned children are left alone to survive without any adult guidance. There will be continued consequences behind this trend just as we're faced with some of these same consequences here in the United States.

[Anonymous]

This article reminds me of the movie "Last Train Home" and I have to agree that Chinese children are growing up with a lack of parental guidance and this could be a problem with this generation of chinese children who will soon become also part of the Chinese working force.

[Anonymous]

Whether the children are "orphaned" in poverty or wealth, absent parents can be found on both sides of the economy. I see students in our high school who are sent to live with guardians, sometimes for years, while the parents are working in another country to give them a "better future". Unfortunately some of these students fall into gangs to find a sense of family. I discovered a few years ago working with one senior student that she had been secretly living in an apartment on her own since the 10th grade. Her rent was paid and she was sent money for food and clothing. Family visited once or twice a year and there was some extended family who would check on her but she lived alone. She is now in college but I think about how well she hid this from others. Well dressed, involved in school, good grades....but emotionally troubled, lonely, and holding this secret until she finally had to tell someone. By the time she told me she was almost graduated and planning for the university. She has so much anger and finds it hard to connect with others.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I was saddened by today's LA Times article, "Orphans of the Chinese Economy". At the crux of the story was how China's economic transformation is affecting the children of that nation, particularly those in the rural areas of the country. These "orphans" are left behind by parents who are taking part in China's shift from a mostly communist to a growing capitalist society. This has, "quietly reshaped the lives of China's rural young, creating a new underclass called liu shou er tong or the 'left-behind children.'" What this immediately reminds me of are the "latch-key kid" generation of children in this country. They had to tie a key around their necks, let themselves into their homes and stay alone untill working mom, dad, or if they were lucky, both came home late in the evening. Yet,of course, there really is no comparison here. The latch-key kids didn't/don't nearly have it as bad as the "left-behind children." brought out in today's article. This is illustrated by a heartbreaking picture of a 13 year old "orphan". It's been about 8 years since she's seen dad since because he went away to work on a construction site. Mom is deaf and mentally out of the picture. She only has grandma to talk with but grandma is frail. Talk about heartbreaking. And stories like these continue and even get worse. I guess no one envisioned when this national transformation took off how it might affect the next generation. It seems these "orphans" are truely the ones getting the short end of the stick and are losing their parents when they need them the most to this extreme makeover.

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