Supporting Rural-to-Urban Migrant Mothers through Parent Education: Qualitative Findings of a Practice-Based Research in China (WITHDRAWN)

Background and Purpose: In China, there were over 61 million left-behind children that had at least one parent relocated to work elsewhere. While the psychosocial maladjustment and developmental problems encountered by left-behind children have been the focus of numerous studies, few of them addressed the parental needs of rural-to-urban migrant parents and the development of a parent education program for those parents. This paper helps to fill this gap by examining the findings of a practice-based research on Chinese migrant mothers’ parental needs and their perceived outcomes and experiences in a parent education program.

Methods: The study proceeded in two stages. During the first stage, a qualitative needs assessment study was undertaken to explore migrant mothers’ parental needs. Thirty migrant mothers of children aged 12 or below were purposively selected as participants. All of them worked in Guangdong Province. They had at least one child living in the hometown. Individual interviews were used to collect the narratives of these mothers regarding their concerns in parenting, their parent-child relationship while separated, their collaboration with caregivers in childrearing, and their perception of parent education. During the second stage, two parent education programs were provided for 30 mothers with at least one left-behind child aged 12 or below. The objectives of the program involved helping those mothers to construct the meaning of motherhood and equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to fostering child development and enhancing parent-child relationship. Two post-intervention focus groups for all participants were led by interviewers who had not joined the programs. Guiding questions were prepared to explore their experiences in the programs and their perceptions of changes in parenting cognitions and practices. The grounded theory method was adopted to examine the qualitative data.   

Findings: The findings of the needs assessment study indicated that although the participants faced intense challenges in parenting, they did not abandon their parental roles upon migration. They were concerned about how they could enhance parental involvement, maintain strong ties with their children, and exert control over them. The findings of the post-intervention focus groups showed that the program helped the participants reflect upon the meaning of parenthood, reaffirm a deep relational connection with their children, and reconsider their parental goals. They could also foster parent-child relationships through mobile phone parenting and periodic visits. Moreover, they learnt how to collaborate with caregivers to perform parental functions. Nevertheless, irregular parent-child communications and inadequate caregivers’ support still limited how the participants connected with their children and exercised child discipline.

Implications: The findings provide insight into a number of initiatives that could potentially promote the welfare of migrant mothers and support their families. Social service providers can broaden their conceptualization of the challenges and opportunities faced by migrant mothers. The knowledge produced can assist social workers with designing a comprehensive parent support program with tailored contents and goals. The findings can also help to generate useful ideas regarding the formulation of social policies and services that are more responsive to the needs of migrant parents in China.