“Under the Same Sky”: A Case Study of a Local Response to the Left Behind Child Phenomenon in Sichuan, China

China’s contemporary rural-to-urban migration after the Opening and Reform period in the 1980s has led to an unprecedented number of “left-behind children”, or minors who have one or both parents away from home working in the cities. Left in the care of aging grandparents or other guardians, China’s left behind child population is at risk of neglect and maltreatment when it comes to safety, socio-emotional development, academic achievement, and daily living. In response to growing debates over the future well-being and care of these children, the Chinese government has called on local authorities to prioritize these improvements and strengthen social support for left behind families. While there are calls by the public and government for support, the physical form that this support takes has not been documented in scholarship. Although case studies on child care are valuable in gleaning insights into potentially vulnerable populations in rural areas, they are few and far in between. Through an ethnographic case study in rural Sichuan, my project seeks to contribute to the understanding of the responses of left behind children, their families, local teachers, and government and civil society and their viewpoints on the past, present, and future care of the left behind children in their communities. I paint a complex picture of the interactions of these actors in order to understand the impact of policies in practice.