One solution for a domestic issue

Domestic worker Bai Shuzhi and her 12-year-old son participate in the program "Mother and Children Fulfilling Dreams in Beijing". Liu Xiangrui / China Daily

"I feel sorry for my son. I am not a good mother because I don't even know what size shoes and clothes he wears," says Bai Shuzhi, a mother at a recent charity event named "Mother and Children Fulfilling Dreams in Beijing".

The event, held by the Beijing Cultural Development Center for Rural Women, called for wider attention on the growing population of rural women working as domestic workers, like Bai, in the cities.

China's social and economic development has led to a booming domestic services industry, which is attracting rural women to join the so-called migrant workers and take up domestic jobs.

Though these women earn higher salaries in the cities than farming back home, they still face a lot of challenges, such as long working hours, no social insurance, and no guarantee of privacy, according to Xie Lihua, president of the host organization.

Xie's organization is a charity that provides services to rural women working in the city.

"Most domestic workers are women, who play multiple roles, such as wife, mother and daughter at home. While looking after their employers' children, they face the fact their own children are left behind unattended," says Xie.

There were some 58 million stay-at-home children by 2008 and they often face problems like insufficient parental care, according to Wu Xinping, deputy head of the children's work department under All-China Women's Federation.

Due to their work, domestic workers may be forced to neglect ties with their children, Xie says.

Bai, 38, left her home in Chengde, Hebei province, to work as a domestic helper in the capital three years ago.

"Every time I made a call back home, I didn't know what to talk about to my son and just repeatedly asked if he had enough clothes," Bai says.

Except for short reunions with her 12-year-old son during his summer and winter holidays, they hardly meet. Her son complained the pair of new shoes she bought him gave him blisters, she adds.

"The usual reason for them to take up jobs in the city is to better provide for the family and better educate their children," Xie says.

"However, instead of gratitude, they sometimes found that children misunderstand and resent their parents."

Domestic service is not highly regarded and few women workers are willing to talk about their working conditions with their family, especially their children, for fear of hurting their feelings.

"But that will further estrange them and hurt the relationship," Xie says.

Twelve women workers and their children, aged between 10 and 15, from six different provinces, were invited to the three-day program in Beijing.

Besides a group tour, the organizers formed a parent-child workshop whose members include psychological and educational experts to provide advice on their relationships. Games involving close interactions were intended to strengthen bonds.

"Meanwhile, we intend to let the children know more about their mothers' work so that they can appreciate their devotion to the family," explains Zhang Yan, one of the organizers.

Bai says she and her son benefited a lot from the event.

Divorced several years ago, Bai didn't tell her son until he happened to see their divorce certificate, after she went to work in Beijing to support the family. The boy asked her sadly if she was coming back again, Bai recalls.

"The thing I want to let him know most is that I left home not because I don't love him. Instead, I did that for him. That's why I joined the program," Bai says.

liuxiangrui@chinadaily.com.cn