Moving together or left behind? An examination of rural migrant working mothers' childcare strategies in the cities

Abstract

BackgroundIn China, an increasing number of rural mothers participate in urban labour markets, but little is known about their decisions regarding childcare while living in these cities. Why do some rural mothers migrate to the cities with their children, whereas others leave their children behind in the countryside?MethodsThis study analysed 1852 samples from the 2016 China Migrant Dynamic Survey of rural migrant mothers collected in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). These mothers were registered with agricultural hukou outside of the PRD and had at least one child under 18 years of age.ResultsThe results indicated that 57.8% of these mothers migrated together with their children. Rural migrant mothers who were self‐employed, had a higher level of household income on a log10 scale and had a longer duration of migration were more willing to adopt closely performing motherhood than rural migrant mothers who were not self‐employed. Additionally, rural working mothers who were intra‐provincial migrants and had a smaller number of children were more likely to bring their children to the cities than rural working mothers who were inter‐provincial migrants.ConclusionsThis study works to strengthen the understanding of rural migrant working mothers' childcare strategies, provide insights for future policy studies and contribute to evidence‐based recommendations for policymakers regarding internal rural‐to‐urban migration, migrant women and the wellbeing of the families of migrants.