“Temporary Wives” for Chinese Migrant Workers: Who’s to Blame?

“Temporary Wives” for Chinese Migrant Workers: Who’s to Blame?
Mar 31, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s notes: this article was translated and edited from a blog that appeared on Ifeng News. The piece discusses the recent issue of “temporary wives”—the phenomenon whereby many migrant workers separated from their families for long periods of times are breaking the rules of marriage and finding second wives during their time away from home. The article looks at the some of the main causes of this trend and discusses how it can be changed.

Migrant workers have it rough. Due to the nature of their employment, they frequently must change their work location, which makes it very difficult for them to enjoy any sort of warm, stable family life. And unfortunately, this pattern has become increasingly common in modern China. Last year, the Ministry of Health officially stated that roughly 80% of migrant workers across the country are in a state of “sexual starvation” due to being away from their wives for long periods of time. In light of this, Liu Li, a woman that's part of an Anhui delegation representing “female foot masseuses”, recently stated that due to this long-term separation from their families, many migrant workers had taken “temporary second wives”, which Liu suggests can help solve the issues that frequently arise during long-distance relationships.

In addition, numerous news agencies have reported that many migrant workers have turned to watching pornography and visiting prostitutes in order to deal with their sexual depravation. According to Liu, many of these workers compromise the moral boundaries of marriage and risk their relationships by finding a “temporary second wife”. What’s even more startling is the fact that this phenomenon is not a rarity, but has become extremely common across the country.

Blame should be directed at society

When approaching this issue, it seems that waving the stick of morality in the face of those guilty of obtaining “temporary wives” is relatively ineffective. Obviously, enjoying the life of a normal happy family is something that should be granted to everybody, and can be seen as a basic human right. However, with this basic necessity unavailable to them, many migrant workers see no choice but to break their moral boundaries in order to avail of warmth and comfort.

When looking at the causes behind this moral dilemma, due to the sheer number of migrant workers taking a “temporary wife,” much of the blame must be directed at society. Clearly, stress and loneliness brought on by modern day society has been a great catalyst in causing these migrant workers to break away from the traditional ethics of marriage while living apart from their families.   

Migrant workers unable to support their families in new places 

The “temporary wife” concept is a result of the sorrow and difficulties migrant workers face when they leave their wife and kids to work in faraway places. Long-term separation naturally erodes the emotional togetherness of families, which in turn inevitably leads to such a phenomenon. Perhaps the most idealistic way of solving this issue is for migrant workers to bring their wives or families with them when they head out to work in new places. However due to various aspects of the current social environment, such as low migrant worker salaries and the restrictive hukou system, most are unable to support their families’ basic needs. Financial burdens such as high rent prices and sending children to new schools all make it very difficult when considering moving the entire family.          

Regardless of these background social issues, obtaining a “temporary wife” while working away from the family is still something which shouldn’t be greeted with sympathy or understanding. As society is partly to blame for this phenomenon however, is it vital that the living conditions and everyday requirements of migrant workers are improved. Issues such as equal rights for migrant workers, higher salaries, ensuring migrant children are able to enter local schools the same way local children can, as well as affordable housing for low income workers all need to be addressed. In order to rectify the commonplace occurrence of migrant husbands and wives living separately for long periods of time, it is down to the government to create opportunities for low income families to enjoy their lives together when working away from home. This can be helped with the creation of more jobs as well as providing apartments for migrant couples to live together in.

Societal changes need to be made

People also have to consider the emotional suffering and stress that are experienced equally by the many wives who are left behind when their husbands have to move away for work. It is estimated that there are already 47 million women in China who must live without their husbands for long periods of time, and who are equally struggling to make ends meet themselves. These so called “institutional widows” also compromise the ethics of marriage with their own extra-marital affairs becoming increasingly prevalent; even the somewhat absurd phenomenon of several-women-to-one-man is becoming more common.

It is important to eliminate the concept of “temporary wives” from the equation, and maintain the basic values of respect and commitment towards marriage. However, the fundamental changes that need to be made lie in the hands of the authorities who must first improve various aspects of the social system to ensure that such issues and other stressful aspects of migrant workers’ lives are addressed.  

Source: Ifeng
 

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Keywords: temporary wives temporary wife phenomenon Chinese migrant workers

6 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

janwyn

It's the choice between flesh and spirit. The spirit is strong, it controls your morality but the flesh is weak breaking everything you value.

Apr 04, 2013 09:09 Report Abuse

eurotrash

How is it that China doesn't have enough women for all it's men, but a lowly construction worker can still manage to have a 2nd wife?

Mar 31, 2013 22:35 Report Abuse

crimochina

the real problem with this society is it's unwillingness to step out of the dark ages. the time when everyone "must" marry and have a child are long over. this country is over populated. the conditions are different. people should be free to live a single and just have sex. educate the public so that they can make intelligent choices about sex, and protect themselves. stop treating women like property and allow them to control their own sex lives. sexual freedom without shame. migrant worker's lifestyle is not fit for marriage, but as human beings we all need sex.

Mar 31, 2013 10:14 Report Abuse

juanisaac

Just have sex...what about an STD? Educate more, right? What about same sex marriage? Educate more, right? My solution is to lift the one child policy and rebalance the male and female population.

Apr 01, 2013 14:11 Report Abuse

alpha3305

Clearly the subject of polygamy is coming up again in Chinese society. Many people consider this to be a remnant of the 中華民國 or ancient Chinese social structure where the rich could have unlimited number of wives depending on their bank accounts. But in reality, this type of social lifestyle is called upon in many countries due to the necessity of the people. In this case, it is very needed. Even "the somewhat absurd phenomenon of several-women-to-one-man" would be logical so the male-female ratio can balance out. In all cultures, this is an accepted form of life. We just have different names and views of it. Though one thing I would change and that's to open communication between spouses. Some form of sexual appreciation is needed to remain human. Stop with the jealousy and paranoia, be the mature adults you are meant to be...and just admit what we all really need. To feel loved, however you may need it.

Mar 31, 2013 02:55 Report Abuse

Guest376558

now I know why my wife goes off for a couple of months at a time.

Mar 31, 2013 02:43 Report Abuse