Migrant mothers refer to female workers whose household registration is still in the countryside, who have been or are currently engaged in non-agricultural industries or have been working outside the country for 6 months or more. From family to society, working mothers play an important and stable role in the sustainable development of society.
Beijing Collaborator Social Work Development Center (hereinafter referred to as Collaborator) is the earliest social work professional organization established in mainland China to serve the floating population, and is also the first batch of national social work service demonstration units of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, since the launch of the "Migrant Mother Health Road" service in 2016, collaborators have continued to pay attention to and serve the health of migrant mothers.
From October last year to January this year, Meinian Health Group and collaborators launched the "Health Care Action for Migrant Mothers" public welfare project, recruiting 218 migrant mothers to carry out free physical examinations in Beijing, Qingdao and Zhuhai, and conducting questionnaire surveys on 203 of them, so as to explore the public welfare services and health education models for migrant women.
Now, the "Working Mother" Health Survey Report (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") is out. The "Report" shows that more than 90% of working mothers are aware of the importance of regular physical examinations, but more than 30% have never participated in physical examinations. Let's follow the data into the life of a working mother.
The average age of working mothers is 42.45 years old
Generally, education is low
Shortly after the New Year, many migrant mothers have to pack their bags and follow their husbands to drag their families away from home and go to other places to seek a new way out of life. They have followed their families in search of better resources for the next generation, and they have gone to the city to improve their families' lives.
Among the working mothers who participated in the survey, the oldest was 66 years old, the youngest was 24 years old, and the average age was 42.45 years old. And among them, there are many who have at least 2 children to raise.
The education of working mothers is generally not high, 75.37% of them have a junior high school education, which is limited by the level of education, and the ability of working mothers to obtain health resources is weak, and the health risks are relatively high.
In all jobs, 47.53% of working mothers did not sign labor contracts, which also means that working mothers lack adequate labor security support when they have health problems.
Some low-tech, repetitive physical work will not only directly affect the health of working mothers, but also affect their self-worth affirmation and identity.
Some studies believe that the traditional gender culture will cause working mothers to bear heavy physical labor at the same time, but also often face social contempt for work value and professional identity, and even discrimination, thus affecting their physical and mental health and balanced development.
Take care of the family while doing odd jobs
It is the norm for working mothers
For many working mothers, taking care of their families while working is the norm.
In migrant families who go to the city to work, because men's working income is higher than that of migrant women, coupled with the influence of traditional gender roles, there will generally be a "male outside, female inside" family division of labor; migrant mothers need to take care of the family and children while doing small work to subsidize the family.
"Every day after the evening shift, I come home from work in the morning, drop off the kids to school, then do the laundry, iron the clothes, then mop the floor, and then start sleeping. After 10:30, I will go out to buy vegetables and cook. A working mother told the staff how she balanced family and work.
Heavy housework, cramped living space, and less-paid work will adversely affect the physical and mental health of working mothers in real life.
Through cross-analysis of the self-assessment of the physical condition of migrant mothers, it is found that the living environment and physical condition of the working mothers are positively correlated, that is to say, when the family living environment is worse, the worse the self-assessment of the working mothers.
Forced by economic pressure, most working mothers will choose a cheaper, smaller living space, but they are worried that the family living environment and accommodation will limit the growth and development of children, resulting in certain psychological pressure.
Working mothers work intensively
Has an impact on physical health
"The rest time is not fixed, I can rest two days a week when I don't have work, and I will take two days off when I change shifts. Sometimes I feel really tired when I change shifts, and sometimes I don't want to do anything when I go back, I just want to lie in bed and take a shower. Among the working mothers who participated in the survey, 41.36% believe that their work intensity is high.
In addition to work intensity, a poor working environment can also have a significant impact on the health of working mothers. Frequent exposure to a poor working environment, or lack of basic labor protection measures, not only directly affects the physical health of working mothers, but also affects their mental health. However, a comparison with a 2017 health survey of collaborators found that the working environment of working mothers has improved year-on-year.
Among the participants in this survey, 29.06% of working mothers think that their physical condition is not very good, and 3.94% think that their physical condition is bad.
Among them, 38.89% of working mothers believe that their work conditions affect their health. Long working hours, irregular hours, high work intensity, and low income are the most important reasons.
Limited by time allocation and ability, some working mothers can only do odd jobs, many of which are manual work, working long hours, or are relatively inadequate in labor protection, and the strain on the body is also more serious.
32.02% of working mothers have never participated in a medical examination
Does not communicate with others when you are unwell
At the end of 2021, the "Health Care Action for Migrant Mothers" organized more than 200 migrant mothers to enter the Ciming Physical Examination Center to receive special physical examinations. The physical examination package is a customized program formed by the physical examination center after organizing medical staff and experts to investigate the group of working mothers, which not only has regular physical examination items, but also concentrates many HPV, pelvic color ultrasound and other projects for women.
The results of the physical examination showed that among them, more than seven adults suffered from breast hyperplasia, dyslipidemia, overweight, thyroid abnormalities, fatty liver, and increased blood pressure were the most prominent health problems in the working mother group, and nearly two adults suffered from uterine fibroids, as well as some other large and small health problems.
In the questionnaire survey, more than 90% of working mothers believe that physical examination is beneficial, because they can "detect early treatment" and "timely understand changes in the condition", but due to factors such as economic income, self-awareness, labor intensity, etc., 32.02% of working mothers have never participated in physical examination. 84.24% of the working mothers who participated in the survey did not participate in the free community/rural "two cancer screening" activities.
At the same time, in the face of physical discomfort, nearly 1/4 of working mothers will first choose to endure, rather than the first time to seek medical examination.
For them, it is not that they do not understand their physical condition, but only because of the family's economic conditions, taking care of their families and other reasons and choose to suffer silently.
"If you have time for tests and surgeries, you can't work, just take a break." Qiao Hong (pseudonym), who has been working outside the home for 24 years, said Qiao Hong (pseudonym), who has uterine cancer. In order to maintain the family's livelihood, Qiao Hong, who has been relying on medicine to control her illness, did not choose to have surgery, because she had to pay off her daughter's student loans first, and then consider the matter of treating the disease.
Working mothers are an important link between the family and society, and their physical and mental health is of great practical significance for the stable development of the family and society. Considering the healthy development needs of working mothers, reducing medical costs through prevention and control at this stage and educating them on health will be an effective means to maximize health effects.
To promote the realization of this goal, it is not only necessary for migrant mothers to strengthen their awareness and ability to manage their own health, but also for families, communities, enterprises, governments and social organizations to strengthen the construction of a supportive and healthy environment for working mothers, and more importantly, the whole society needs to pay attention to working mothers. At present, through this activity, many working mothers have realized the importance of physical examination for health.
References: Beijing Collaborator Social Work Development Center * Meinian Health Group", "Survey Report on the Health Status of Working Mothers - Assessment and Suggestions on Social Work Service Needs Based on the "Health Care Action for Migrant Mothers"
Data News Editor: Chen Hualuo
New Media Design: Miao Qihui
Proofreader: Chen Diyan