Migrant Parenting and Mobile Phone Use: Rebuilding Relationships Between Chinese Migrant Workers and Their “Left-Behind” Children

This study focuses on the use of the mobile phone to deal with tensions and problems that arise in trans-regional parenting. It examines the uses and gratifications derived from the mobile phones used by migrant parents to communicate with the children they leave behind. Data were gathered from a sample of 378 migrant workers who worked in factories in southern China. The results showed that migrant workers used their mobile phones to assist in distance parenting. They were motivated by the desire for instantaneous communication (i.e., immediate access and reassurance), online transactions, affection, mobility, relaxation, and information. The demographical results showed that the migrant workers tended to communicate with their older male children via calls and text messaging, whereas they tended to use audiovisual interaction to communication with their female children. When migrant parents called, texted, or interacted with their children via audiovisual functions, they were motivated by the need for affection and relaxation. The study found that in predicting the perceived quality of their involvement, the significant motives of the migrant workers for using their mobile phones were the ability to parent the children they had left behind through instantaneous communication, the ability to show affection, and the ability to conduct online transactions. The theoretical and practical implications of the results of the study are discussed.