"Hollow" villages phenomenon
The hollow villages, a micro geo- graphic phenomenon, contains two essential features: 1) a significant loss of land resources in rural areas due to housing developments annexed massive amounts of land in recent years; 2) a decrease in the number of residents in the village due to urbanization. In the rural collective ownership of land system, the costs of acquiring a piece of land to build a house is far less than the benefits of building a new house (Hu et al., 2011, p.1). As a result, villagers tend to build more houses as long as they have sufficient money to do so. As more houses are built and the density in the village decrease, hollowing of villages occurs.
Since the 1990s, the influx of migrant workers to the cities meant that there is a massive emigration of young males in the rural area. When the young males leave the villages, what's left in the village are the elderly, the young ones and females. This led to the emergence of hollow villages in China in the early 1990s. Moreover, due to low attendance to a lot of arable lands because of the absence of male farmers, a large area of land is wasted yearly.
Since the 1990s, the influx of migrant workers to the cities meant that there is a massive emigration of young males in the rural area. When the young males leave the villages, what's left in the village are the elderly, the young ones and females. This led to the emergence of hollow villages in China in the early 1990s. Moreover, due to low attendance to a lot of arable lands because of the absence of male farmers, a large area of land is wasted yearly.
Problems brought about by "hollowing" of villages:
1. Food security
The agricultural land resources of China are relatively limited because of its large population. Therefore, balancing the land use for industrialization, urbanization, and food security is a big challenge.
Due to a lower income in the villages than the cities, farming no longer pose as an attraction to young males in rural areas as they move to the urban cities to take up non-agricultural jobs. The continuous migration of young males from the rural areas to the urban cities leaves villages with only elderly, women and children. In most villages, elderly in their 60s and 70s are more commonly seen doing farm chores as compared to the young males. In many villages like the Weiping town, elderly makes up more than half of the population in the town (Gu, 2012). Elderly do not have the energy of young males when it comes to farming and they experience health problems more often than young males, causing them to have significantly more "off" days from farming. With shorter working hours and decrease in efficiency of farming, agricultural production in many villages has been decreasing.
Moreover, other than the elderly, many women are taking over agricultural jobs. According to a study conducted in 2006, the situation on women farming while their offspring and husbands migrate to the urban cities is not reversed when migrants return but remains as a persistent situation (Dominique, Ren, 2006, p.4). Problems also arose when women take on farming roles and one of which is the worsening of rural poverty due to high illiteracy rate of women in rural China.
Read more in Other factors causing rural poverty
While every cloud has a silver lining, some argue that the welfare of the "hollow" villages' women has risen and they are having a better quality of life than before due to greater access to farm work which allows them to receive higher wages as compared their wages before. Moreover, the traditional social structure in rural areas may also shift in the future and more and more women will become household heads (Dominique, Ren, 2006, p.8). This will reduce gender inequality in the rural areas of China.
Other than having the farms attended by women and elderly, every year, the wastage of arable land due to absence of people (mostly because of the absence of males) attending to it reaches 3000 mu (Gu, 2012). Although China has yet to face food scarcity, the problem of having no one left to farm has already been a widespread problem throughout China. With the continuation of China's rapid urbanisation rate and the expansion of population, it will not be hard to imagine China being caught up in food scarcity problem if the "hollowing" of villages continues.
Due to a lower income in the villages than the cities, farming no longer pose as an attraction to young males in rural areas as they move to the urban cities to take up non-agricultural jobs. The continuous migration of young males from the rural areas to the urban cities leaves villages with only elderly, women and children. In most villages, elderly in their 60s and 70s are more commonly seen doing farm chores as compared to the young males. In many villages like the Weiping town, elderly makes up more than half of the population in the town (Gu, 2012). Elderly do not have the energy of young males when it comes to farming and they experience health problems more often than young males, causing them to have significantly more "off" days from farming. With shorter working hours and decrease in efficiency of farming, agricultural production in many villages has been decreasing.
Moreover, other than the elderly, many women are taking over agricultural jobs. According to a study conducted in 2006, the situation on women farming while their offspring and husbands migrate to the urban cities is not reversed when migrants return but remains as a persistent situation (Dominique, Ren, 2006, p.4). Problems also arose when women take on farming roles and one of which is the worsening of rural poverty due to high illiteracy rate of women in rural China.
Read more in Other factors causing rural poverty
While every cloud has a silver lining, some argue that the welfare of the "hollow" villages' women has risen and they are having a better quality of life than before due to greater access to farm work which allows them to receive higher wages as compared their wages before. Moreover, the traditional social structure in rural areas may also shift in the future and more and more women will become household heads (Dominique, Ren, 2006, p.8). This will reduce gender inequality in the rural areas of China.
Other than having the farms attended by women and elderly, every year, the wastage of arable land due to absence of people (mostly because of the absence of males) attending to it reaches 3000 mu (Gu, 2012). Although China has yet to face food scarcity, the problem of having no one left to farm has already been a widespread problem throughout China. With the continuation of China's rapid urbanisation rate and the expansion of population, it will not be hard to imagine China being caught up in food scarcity problem if the "hollowing" of villages continues.
2. Social problem of stay-at-home children in rural areas in China
The second problem is the social problem caused by the emotional state and future of stay-at-home children in rural areas in China. Stay-at-home children are children who live in the village with parents already moved to the city to work and they are defined as children who cannot stay with their parents in a long term. They usually stay in the village with their grandparents.
According to the All-China Women's Federation (2013), it was found that the number of stay-at-home children has reached 61 million. In every five children, there is one stay-at-home children (Figure 1.). Without absence of care and love from their parents, stay-at-home children are usually anxious and emotionally unstable. More than 70% of stay-at-home children show signs of unhealthy mental state eg. Depression, anxiety etc, in standard tests performed on them (An, 2014).
According to the All-China Women's Federation (2013), it was found that the number of stay-at-home children has reached 61 million. In every five children, there is one stay-at-home children (Figure 1.). Without absence of care and love from their parents, stay-at-home children are usually anxious and emotionally unstable. More than 70% of stay-at-home children show signs of unhealthy mental state eg. Depression, anxiety etc, in standard tests performed on them (An, 2014).
Moreover, since these children's parents are not with them to provide proper guidance in education and timely financial support, adding to the already poor education system in rural villages, the children are unable to complete their studies.This led to an obvious disparity of drop out rate of stay-at-home children and normal children with the drop out rate of stay-at-home children being significantly higher. Without further studies, a high qualification will not be acquired by those stay-at-home children and this time, it will not be just their mental health being threatened, but their whole future will be put at risk. It will be almost impossible for them to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty due to the lack of education. This will then contribute to the widening of urban-rural income disparity as well as the worsening of rural poverty.
Recap on Inequality of education in rural areas widens urban-rural income disparity
Once again, the future of China's youths and China itself are put at risk.
Recap on Inequality of education in rural areas widens urban-rural income disparity
Once again, the future of China's youths and China itself are put at risk.
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Gu, Y. (2012). 劳动力流失致农村空心化 谁来种地成严峻问题. [on-line]. URL: http://news.china.com.cn/txt/2012-03/26/content_24987441.htm. (18 March 2014)
Helen, G. (n.d). China's Left Behind. [on-line]. URL: http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/summer2013/chinas-left-behind. (20 March 2014)
Smith, G. (n.d). The Hollow State: Rural Governance in China. [on-line]. URL: http://chinatrack.typepad.com/files/smith-hollow-state.pdf. (17 March 2014)
Sun, H. et al. (2011). Hollow Villages and Rural Restructuring in Major Rural Regions of China: A Case Study of Yucheng City, Shandong Province. [on-line]. URL: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yansui_Liu/publication/225597895_Hollow_villages_and_rural_restructuring_in_major_rural_regions_of_China_A_case_study_of_Yucheng_City_Shandong_Province/file/e0b49526853e60a0f2.pdf
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