70% families only reunite once a year

More than 70 percent of young people working away from home don't see their parents for six months or more, according to a survey cited in the Beijing Morning Post. 

The survey of nearly 10,000 young people by Daguu.com, a job search website, was released on the eve of the Double Ninth Festival - the ninth day of the ninth lunar month – which has become a modern day of celebration for seniors.

The survey shows family reunions are becoming less frequent and the biggest headache for young migrant workers.

Some 21 percent of interviewees said they only see their parents once every six months, 27 percent only see their parents once a year, while 22 percent did not get to go home at all.

The situation has been attributed to a number of reasons, such as insufficient vacation time, work commitments and the cost of returning home.

When asked if parents should live with their children in the city they work, about 70 percent responded "never". Apart from the uncertainty of their own life, high living expenditure in the city and different living habits also make young people avoid this idea.

Interviewees also expressed the wish to make more money for their parents, set up their own family to lessen the worry, and purchase a house in the city so that the family can live together.