From Chinese Press

Rural women need our help

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-19 07:56

Men who have migrated to cities to earn a better living have left about 47 million women behind in their rural hometowns. These women have to take care of the house, farm and children and senior family members. As beneficiaries of urbanization, city dwellers should find ways to help these women, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

Traditional family production units in rural areas of China are falling apart because of the largest and fastest urbanization drive in the world. Men flock to cities in search of higher income despite having to do backbreaking work. Most of them cannot afford to take their families to live with them in cities, so their wives, usually the only adult working member at home, have to take all the burden of the house and farmland, apart from looking after children and elderly people.

No urban resident has the strength or endurance to work on farms, do all the household chores and take care of kids and senior family members simultaneously. But these rural women do. On top of everything, these helpless women have to bear the pain of living apart from the husbands. In more ways than one, these women are paying the highest price of China's economic development and urbanization.

Yet governments, enterprises and the public seem to be blind to their suffering. Since migrant workers have made - and are still making - great contributions to the country, it is the responsibility of governments, enterprises and civil society, especially urban residents who benefit the most from development and urbanization, to help ease the burden of these women.

 

(China Daily 07/19/2010 page9)