Childhood traumas leave young migrants fragile

• Source: Global Times
• [21:50 June 22 2010]
• Comments

Illustration: Liu Rui

By Du Hanqi

Foxconn's wave of suicides seems to have ceased for the moment, after prompting a pay increase across the company.

But were the low pay and poor working condition really the main factors that contributed to the rash of suicides?

The new generation of migrant workers have more support from society and much better general working condition. So why the unprecedented string of suicides this year?

Unlike their parents, the new generation of migrant workers, born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, are more vulnerable to pressure. Although there is no accurate data available, there seems to be a strong link between their childhood experiences and their current mental status.

In the 1980s, number of farmers surged to urban areas to work in factories and on construction sites, leaving their children behind in the countryside.

These left-behind children, who have grown up and become the new generation of migrant workers, have suffered the long standing absence of parents, which took an enormous toll not only on their emotional well-being, but also on their physical growth and future personal achievement.

Either because of physical separation from parents or inadequate care from alternative caregivers, many children experienced the loss of their primary care-givers, which led to serious problems by breaking parental attachments.

Humans need attachment to others for their psychological and emotional development. If parents are not consistently available or if they respond to their babies' needs in an unpredictable way, babies are not able to establish a pattern of confident expectation. One result is insecure attachment, or a pessimistic internal sense of confidence and trust in others, which will last for the rest of the child's life.

Based on their early experience, children develop internal working models that serve as templates for future relationships. Abandoned children who lack parental attachments often form negative models, believing that nobody can be trusted and people don't care. For those who move to the cities with their parents, the situation does not get any better. Restricted by long working hours and heavy workloads, migrant workers can hardly provide adequate care for their children.

Even worse, children of migrant workers are in fact discriminated against both culturally and materially by the city authorities, such as being excluded from public schools. Many studies have shown that experiencing racial, sexual or social discrimination in childhood contributes to problems in adulthood.

Raised in an Internet culture, the new generation of migrant workers has a wider perspective than their parents and are more ambitious. They are increasingly accepting of urban life and eager to become part of it.

However, since most have a high school education at best, the positions available for them are limited to factories and workshops. Furthermore, with hundreds of millions competing for jobs, they feel a perpetual sense of anxiety.

Soaring expectations collide with harsh reality. The road ahead in the cities is blocked, and with a lack of farming skills, the road to retreat is closed. Trapped in this predicament, the very meaning of their hard work collapses when they realize their dream of a better life in the cities is a mirage.

Migrant workers are often incapable of coping with such desperation, and they face unstable living and working conditions, as well as conflicts arising from the process of adjustment, isolation, and discrimination. No wonder they often have mental problems.

Studies have revealed that some migrants in cities demonstrate hostility, social isolation and poor social adjustment ability. If the problems remain unsolved, depression or anger within will eventually turn into either self-harm or attacks on others.

Therefore, as well as providing fundamental policies to empower migrant workers with equal rights, free or affordable mental health counselling should be introduced.