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.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."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.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.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.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.
