财经金融新闻 留守儿童之殇（在线收听）

The recent deaths of four siblings whose migrant-worker parents left them unattended for more than a year has focused attention on the high price rural families are paying to support themselves and China's economic development.

农民工父母将孩子搁置在家长达一年多，近日四兄妹双双死亡，这起事件也引起了人们对农村家庭高支出，以及中国经济状况的关注。

Police say that four children committed suicide together on the night of June 9 in their home in Tiankan, in the Guizhou Province city of Bijie. Death, one of the children wrote, had been his "dream."

警方称6月9日晚，在贵州省毕节市田坎乡，四兄妹在家中自杀。一名孩子曾写道“死亡是我多次的梦想”。

The nation was shocked, and Premier Li Keqiang called on local government officials nationwide to re-examine social security efforts in hopes of preventing similar tragedies.

这起事件震惊全国，李克强总理要求全国各地方政府对公共安全进行重新整治，避免类似惨剧发生。

Officials in Tiankan were dismissed, and inquiries have also been launched into other local officials. The Bijie government said that about one-tenth of the city's school-age children live in homes without parents. In other words, the "left-behind children," so named as their parents are forced to search for jobs in the cities, are 164,000 large. And while some are cared for by relatives, others are left to fend for themselves. Since 2010, the number of “left-behind children” has grown by 150 percent.

田坎乡官员遭到解雇，并开始对当地其他官员进行调查。毕节市政府称大约五分之一的学龄儿童独自生活在家。换句话说，该市的“留守儿童”数量达到了16.4万人，父母均外出打工。一些得到了亲戚的照顾，还有一些不得不自力更生。自2010年起，“留守儿童”数量增长了150%。

Some experts are calling for change in the system. Many academics are arguing for residency permit rule changes so that the children of migrant workers might be able to take full advantage of public services like education and health care, in the cities. Currently, those without an urban residency permit do not have access to public services in urban areas.

许多专家呼吁对制度进行改革。一些学术人员主张变革户口制度，这样农民工就能够充分利用像教育、医疗等公共服务。目前，没有城市户口的外来人口将无法享受城市的公共服务。

Others are calling for more money invested in rural development, with a focus on education. Ye Jingzhong, a development studies expert at the China Agricultural University in Beijing said the government should allocate more investment for rural development centered on upgrading education resources in rural areas.

还有一些人要求加大农村投入，特别是教育。中国农业大学发展研究专家叶敬忠认为，政府应该加大对农村发展投入，特别是要对农村的教育资源进行升级。