1. Nearly 70m Chinese children have been "left-behind" by their parents as they seek work in faraway provinces, many in the factories of Guangdong. Unicef says many of these children, while brought up by grandparents, lack adequate care and support (thread) 
2. It's a huge social problem & it's also an economic one, as some parents are reluctant to continue migrating for work because of the pain of separation. This is happening as China's workforce starts to shrink and many younger people no longer want to work in factories.
3. To tackle this issue - & help them attract workers - a handful of factories in Guangdong have joined a new initiative to offer residential childcare during school summer holiday. Parents who'd only see their kids at the lunar new year, can now spend an extra month with them.
4. Luo Zuozou, who's from Hebei province, said that he was grateful to have a chance to spend the summer with Litong, his six-year-old son. He told the FT: "Previously, when I tried to call him, he didn’t even want to pick up the phone, but now he will tell me his secrets."
5. The initiative is being pushed by the ICTI Ethical Toy Program, an international not-for-profit organisation funded by factories, toy brands and retailers to audit labour and safety standards. It plans to expand it to 25-30 factories next year.
6. That is clearly a drop in the ocean, given the scale of the left-behind children problem. The Ethical Toy Program says it wants to keep scaling up but many factory owners are not interested in paying for or bothering with this kind of initiative.
7. Critics such as Jenny Chan, a professor of sociology in Hong Kong, say that the factory summer childcare programme is one of a number of initiatives designed to burnish the image of the toy industry, while doing little to help improve workers' lives.
8. She argues that what workers really need is better wages and housing so they don't have to live away from their children at all. Reform of the hukou household registration system is also needed to help migrants get access to local health and education services.
9. Executives involved in the summer childcare scheme say that this is unrealistic and that it is better to do something than nothing, They claim they have see worker retention and productivity rates improve since they joined the initiative.
For more, check out the FT feature by @nicolle_liu and I on.ft.com/2oY2wtD
