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Single Chinese mothers beset with troubles
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-18 10:44
With more Chinese women joining the group of single mothers, they have found
themselves encountering problems with money, housing and educating their
children.
Divorced in 1999, a single mother surnamed Chen is now living with her only
son. According to the court verdict, her ex-husband gives her 200 yuan (about
US$24) monthly as child support, which is far from enough for raising a child in
urban China today.
Chen said before the divorce, her husband let her kept all his wages, 1,400
yuan (about US$168) a month, together with her 600 yuan (about US$72), which
made their lives well-off.
"Things turned different since the divorce," Chen said. She said she has been
under continuous economic pressure, as her son is now in middle school and needs
to pay tuition.
Chen said she felt embarrassed when the days for paying tuition approach, and
doesn't know where to raise the money, though she is determined to provide the
best education for her child.
The problems Chen faces are common to many single mothers in China. A recent
survey done by the Shenyang city government shows that 57.3 percent of single
parent families are faced with economic difficulties, and 43 percent of single
parent families have monthly incomes below 300 yuan (about US$36). Most of these
families are headed by single mothers and have and much lower living standards
than before divorce.
Another bitter situation for single mothers is housing problem. When families
are broken, single mothers often live in the homes of their own parents or rent
cheap house, which make the family feel uncomfortable.
Education is the most import issue for single mother families. Single mothers
tend to pamper their children as compensation for the incomplete family love.
A Ling's husband died of disease when their son was five years old. She chose
to live with her son instead of remarrying, giving all her love to the child,
she said. She never blamed her son, even when he made mistakes or played truant,
until one day he committed robbery and was arrested by the police.
More people have realized the difficulties faced by single parent families,
especially single mother families. Beijing and Tianjin have both set up single
parents' clubs to offer psychological counseling and parenting courses to single
parents --including the divorced and widowed.
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