Can China’s policies address the problem of left-behind children?

Abstract

As a result of migration of rural labour to cities, many children have been left behind in the rural villages by their migrant-worker parents. Many left-behind children (LBC) face problems such as a lack of family care, family separation, mental health issues, behavioural issues, low achievement in education, and so on. To cope with the problem of LBC, the Chinese government issued the “The Opinions on Strengthening the Care and Protection of Left-behind Children in Rural Areas” (The 2016 Opinions) in 2016. This study explores The 2016 Opinions and the extent to which the policy has addressed the problems of LBC. It draws on the critical discourse problematization framework (CDPF), a combination of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Bacchi’s “What’s the problem represented to be (WPR)?”, to analyse The 2016 Opinions and achieve the dual goals of policy analysis and criticism. The results suggest that the policy discourses in The 2016 Opinions are influenced by charity and social harmony discourses, with authoritarianism and neoliberalism affecting the expression of these discourses in policy. This thesis argues that, although the 2016 Opinions have improved compared to previous policies, these can only alleviate the current plight of LBC but cannot fundamentally resolve the phenomenon of LBC because the household registration system, which shapes the foundation of migrant workers lives and made family separation the normal life of LBC in rural areas, is not addressed. In other words, The 2016 Opinions merely treat the symptoms rather than addressing the root cause of the problem. To conclude, this study suggests that a shift towards a discourse of human rights and equality is needed in both policy and practice.