The “temporary wife” concept is a result of the sorrow and difficulties migrant workers face when they leave their wife and kids to work in faraway places. Long-term separation naturally erodes the emotional togetherness of families, which in turn inevitably leads to such a phenomenon. Perhaps the most idealistic way of solving this issue is for migrant workers to bring their wives or families with them when they head out to work in new places. However due to various aspects of the current social environment, such as low migrant worker salaries and the restrictive hukou system, most are unable to support their families’ basic needs. Financial burdens such as high rent prices and sending children to new schools all make it very difficult when considering moving the entire family.





Regardless of these background social issues, obtaining a “temporary wife” while working away from the family is still something which shouldn’t be greeted with sympathy or understanding. As society is partly to blame for this phenomenon however, is it vital that the living conditions and everyday requirements of migrant workers are improved. Issues such as equal rights for migrant workers, higher salaries, ensuring migrant children are able to enter local schools the same way local children can, as well as affordable housing for low income workers all need to be addressed. In order to rectify the commonplace occurrence of migrant husbands and wives living separately for long periods of time, it is down to the government to create opportunities for low income families to enjoy their lives together when working away from home. This can be helped with the creation of more jobs as well as providing apartments for migrant couples to live together in.



