Effects of Migration on Families, Essay Example

Urban migration is one of the current economic trends in China. Individuals from various rural parts in China are migrating to big cities to get jobs, and provide for their families back home. Although urban migration is not in the same scale of international migration, the truth remains that its effects can be as critical, since people try to make a living in bigger cities, in urban China. Urban migration in China is the direct result of poverty in rural areas. In order to provide for families, parents leave their homes, to find better lives, in cities, through employments, as housekeepers, factory workers, and other low-paid jobs. This situation may have provided for the needs of their families, but it is also causing turmoil, that can break up families, that were once solid.

In Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China’s Great Urban Migration, Michelle Dammon Loyalka (2012) wrote the story about Donghua, and Shuanghai’s migrating to cities, to look for job opportunities, in order to provide education for their daughter, that is left home with her grandmother. The common thinking is that the separation is worth the life, that they can provide, for their daughter. With this in mind, they are forgetting the most important part of being a family, and that is the concept of togetherness. Being together, no matter how difficult the situation will be, is the core of a family. Unfortunately for parents like Donghua, and Shuanghai, they do not have the choice to stay in their homes, since there are mouths to feed, and children to send to school. This is a sad reality of life in rural China. There is nothing wrong with doing whatever it takes, to make sure that children get the best education, and opportunities. However, parents, and children, are missing out on each other. Children do not have parents to talk to about their problems, or how their day went. Care, and supervision, of parents, are being missed, by children.

The left-behind children usually develop, and grow, into their own personality, as shaped, by the people around them, and their environment, during the separation, with their parents.  Chinese parents, who migrate to the big cities, to earn a living, usually take the opportunity, to save up some money. They will also establish their own life, and then bring their children with them, in the city. It is a family reunion, but it does not provide a stable environment for children. Parents work very hard, and tirelessly.  At the end of the day, they do not have time for their children. Loyalka (2012) clearly described this situation, by telling the story of Ming. When Ming went to live with her parents in the city, she could not understand the hype of the city, and wanted to retreat in her home in one of the rural areas in China. This is an indication that children might not want the life, that their parents are forming for them, in the big city. Children have grown to have their own thinking, and personality, that were shaped, by the environment around them, when they were left behind, with their grandparents. In addition, most of the grandparents in rural areas do not have education.  It will be hard for grandparents to supervise grandchildren, and hope that they will grow to be ambitious, and successful. Hence, this situation is what molds the children in rural areas, and it can be proven, by the increasing rate of school dropouts.

The lack of proper supervision, has caused the increasing rate, of teenage pregnancy. The whole new cycle of urban migration repeats over, and over, again.  Teenagers have now become parents, who have regretted their own decisions. They will leave their children behind, and go to work, in bigger cities, so their children will not make the same mistakes, that they committed.  They become the ones pushing for their children’s education, and they will choose to be separated from them, to provide them the better future that slipped right before their eyes. My family had a housekeeper, in Shanghai. Her name is Xiao Luend, and she is from a rural area of west China, called Anhui. She has been working, in Shanghai, for fourteen years, and this is also how long her daughter stayed, with her grandparents, in Anhui. Xiao Luend is a hard-working housekeeper. Her dream is to send her daughter, to one of the top universities, in China. Unfortunately, her daughter became a teenage mom, when she was sixteen years old. Xian Luend’s dreams were broken, and all she could do is to help her daughter set up her own family. One year later, her daughter was in Shanghai, looking for a job. The urban migration cycle starts, again.

If there is one good thing, that can come out, from urban migration, it is the fact that parents are trying to promote education, and hard work, to their children, and set good examples, as hard as they can. Some children can see the sacrifices, that their parents make for them. My family driver, Xiao Song, is a good example, in this case. Xiao Song is also from Anhui, and he has been working, in Shanghai, for twenty years. Same as Xiao Luend, Xiao Song left his son to his parents, in Anhui, since he was three years old. Xiao Song’s son now studies, in the medical field, in one of the top university, in China.  Not everyone is lucky enough, to have a son, or daughter, like Xiao Song. The problem nowadays, is that most children, whose parents work in another cities, do not see the effort their parents put for them. Thus, the government has to improve the poverty in rural areas, and also provide assistance, to people, who need it the most. There should also be applications of stricter regulations, and laws, concerning labor practices, in order to ensure that migrant workers are protected, and not exploited.

An additional instance of negative aspects associated with migration is explained by Jason DeParle, in A Good Provider is One Who Leaves, who narrates an individual named Emmett’s need to leave his children in an attempt to provide them with a better life. He explains that although doing so allowed his children to have more material goods, but at the price of their ability to have a father present in their lives. His time abroad also contributed to a sensation of loneliness. He explains, “Emmett walked off the returning flight, with chocolate for the kids, earrings for Tita and a bag of duty-free cigarettes, his loneliness abroad having made him a chain smoker” (DeParle, 2007). This demonstrates that it may be better for families to stay together instead of migrating into an urban environment. While migration promises money and the means to achieve survival, survival is meaningless without the presence of loved ones. Thus, even though this sacrifice is beneficial, it is plausible that Emmett’s children could have benefitted more significantly from having their father around to support their growth during their childhood.

It is undeniable that urban migration has more negative effects on families, and left-behind children, than advantages. This is a sad reality, but if there is one lesson to be learned from this situation, it is that good that parents always think the best, for their children. However, for some people, it is hard, and sometimes, it is worth asking if all the sacrifices justify the expected, and hope, for an outcome. Or, is it better for a family to stay, and work together, as one family, for a better future. Overall, it is better for families to do what they think is the best for them to survive, whether this is based on physical or emotional need. However, it is important to consider that urban migration is occasionally necessary, independent of race, in order to provide for an individual’s loved ones.

References

DeParle, J. (2007). A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves. New York Times.

Loyalka, M. (2012). Introduction, and Chapter1: The Veggie Vendors. In Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China’s Great Urban Migration (pp. 1-8, 9-35). Berkley, CA: University of CA Press