the perils of not having a welfare state

[khazalid]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/14/chinese-police-investigating-deaths-of-left-behind-children-find-suicide-note

[mrswdk]

Left behind children are not the product of a country with no welfare state. They're the product of a country in which welfare is not evenly distributed. Welfare provision is much more substantial in the biggest cities, but since migrants whose household registration book (hukou) remains registered in their home province don't get state-subsidized access to things such as education and healthcare in whichever locality they migrate to, and most migrants don't/can't get their registration transferred to the city they live in, most migrants living in big cities don't get full access to the welfare system of the city they live in. This means that many of those migrants who work fairly menial jobs can't afford to take their kids with them, and therefore leave them behind in their hometowns.

It's a bit of a 'rock and a hard place' situation really. The parents can either migrate in search of decent employment and leave their kids behind, or stay with their kids but have much less/no money. Or take their kids with them, but then either have to pay huge amounts to get their kids into city schools or take their chances with off the radar, privately-run migrant schools. If you're born poor in a sucky province like Guizhou then there aren't really any great options available to you.

The situation will only be resolved once migrants living in cities are able to enjoy the same rights as people who are originally from those cities, but at present local governments simply don't have the funds to extend social welfare provision to each and every migrant who comes calling. There are just way too many migrants for the system to support them all. Things have been changing and improving over the last decade or two, but there is still a long way to go.