Children of industrial workers lack almost everything. Many parents have to send their children back to the countryside, without the conditions to provide nutritious meals.
Representative of Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation shares about the lives of workers in export processing zones and industrial parks in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: VU THUY
These are some results of a survey on the lives of children of industrial park workers. These results were just presented at a workshop to solicit opinions on the draft project "Supporting workers in industrial parks and export processing zones in child care and education" of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor.
Income is not enough to cover expenses, children cannot live with parents
The survey was conducted by the Women's Committee (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) in 5 provinces and cities with many export processing zones and industrial parks: Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City and Long An as the basis for developing the above project.
Accordingly, the percentage of workers surveyed with income under 6 million VND/month is 15.1%, income from 6-8 million VND/month is 38.5%, income from 8-10 million VND/month is 26.9%, and over 10 million VND/month is only 9.5%.
31.1% of industrial park workers surveyed said their children had to live with their parents in rented rooms under 15 square meters . These types of rented rooms are mostly cramped, dilapidated, lacking light and space.
The difficult living conditions of workers affect the care and upbringing of children. Only 26% of workers surveyed said that their houses were airy and had space for children to play.
Also according to a 2024 survey conducted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, 59% of workers do not have a television, 59.2% do not have a washing machine, 91% do not have a computer, 63.1% do not have air conditioning. Only 17.7% of workers responded that their living area has a playground for children.
The percentage of workers who have savings is only 3.2%, the rest have to spend frugally, save and are not enough to cover living expenses, up to 72.2%.
In their relationship with their children, migrant workers face many difficulties when sending their children back to their hometowns, not having the conditions to be close to, care for and raise them, and limited knowledge and skills in child care and raising.
Likewise, without adequate parental support, children have difficulty accessing social services, health care, recreation, and entertainment.
Up to 40% of female migrant workers have children of nursery and kindergarten age and nearly 30% of female workers with children in general education have to send their children back to their hometowns for relatives to raise and care for (survey results in 2023 in 10 provinces and cities).
Workers' and laborers' lives still face many difficulties - Photo: PHUONG NHI
Lack of daycare facilities and kindergartens for workers' children
Ms. Do Hong Van - Head of the Women's Union (Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) - said that by the end of 2023, the country had 431 industrial parks with about 4.16 million workers, mainly young immigrant workers, low living standards, lots of overtime, and precarious lives.
Immigrant worker families mainly live in rented houses, and the lack of kindergartens and classrooms near where parents live and work makes choosing schools for their children difficult.
Many workers send their children to private facilities that do not guarantee quality, and many child abuse cases increase the risk of child abuse and violence.
"The project to support workers in taking care of and raising children comes from the need to improve the conditions for workers and laborers to take care of and raise children, as well as the role and responsibility of trade unions in supporting workers in taking care of and raising children," said Ms. Van.
The difficulty in childcare, kindergartens, and schools for workers’ children was of great concern to delegates. Ms. Van said that preschool education in industrial zones with many workers has been prioritized for development, as is preschool education in remote areas.
However, this is still a difficult problem to solve because it is related to land planning for building schools and kindergartens in export processing zones and industrial parks.
Students volunteer to be tutors in blue shirts to teach workers' children for free at boarding houses and worker accommodation areas in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: CT
For example, in Dong Nai, there are currently 33 industrial parks operating with 60% immigrants, but there are only 6 public kindergartens sponsored by companies and only 4 businesses in the industrial parks have built nurseries and kindergartens.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the lack of preschool facilities that provide after-hours childcare when businesses organize overtime, especially in businesses in export processing zones and industrial parks, has been and continues to be a concern for workers.
Public institutions only meet about 15% of the demand, the remaining 85% must rely on private institutions. Not to mention that tuition fees at private institutions, if quality is guaranteed, will be high, 5-9 times higher than at public institutions, a big burden on current workers' salaries.
Another problem is the time for childcare when workers work overtime until 6-7pm, but public facilities only accept childcare until 5:30pm (Monday to Friday) and do not accept childcare on weekends and summer holidays.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tre-con-con-con-cong-nhan-khu-cong-nghiep-thieu-thon-moi-mat-cha-me-phai-gui-ve-que-20241121110759771.htm
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