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Internal migration¹ in China is affecting one out of every four children today. The government has been putting more care and support into this issue.

In China, almost 70 million children are not living with both parents and many of them remain in rural areas. That’s a quarter of the country’s child population. A UNICEF forum² was held on Wednesday to address these issues.

Tong Xiaolun, director of China Research Inst. for Children & Adolescents, said, "Without guardians³, children are very prone⁴ to accidents especially during school holidays. We’ve seen many swimming and traffic accidents, and in recent years even some sexual assault cases have been reported."

As more people seek work opportunities in urban areas, more children are left behind in villages, most often with grandparents and not enough supervision⁵.

In 2010, together with UNICEF, China launched the barefoot social worker’ program, extending personal services to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

So far the program has reached 120 villages in 5 provinces. The forum aims to expand the beneficiary group.

"I live with my grandma in the village. We used to live in a thatched cottage, but the social worker helped us apply for funds from the county and now our house is made of bricks. I have 41 classmates. They’re all very poor. Some of them still live in the mountains and travel a long way to school," said Li Xinghuan, child representative from Yunnan Province.

As of last year, 20 million Chinese children were still living below the poverty line. The government has national policies designed to provide for a child’s basic rights. But often, without professional help, these services can be difficult to access.

"China’s child welfare system passed a milestone⁶ in 2010 when the country decided⁷ to spend 2.5 billion yuan to care for orphans⁸ and support such institutes. This national scheme made sure many children’s needs were met. However, there’re also children who don’t live with parents and have other vulnerabilities in life. They must be considered, too. There must be better systems to protect them," Professor Hua Juxiang of Nanjing Normal University said.