The Life of Rural Chinese Children

I caught this interesting video on Shanghaiist. It depicts the life of young children who are left at home in the countryside by parents who go off to find work in the cities.

With an estimated total migrant workforce of 130 million, these situations are not uncommon in rural China.

The video starts out like a bland, 'National Geographic' type of documentary but the more you watch, the more engrossed you become in the children's stories and - for me - the more sympathy you have for their situation.

What I don't understand is why the parents don't return home, say, once a year to see their children. The first girl featured has not seen her mother in five years and tells the interviewer she can barely remember what she looks like. So sad.