At 5:30 PM, the small alley leading to the row of workers' boarding houses near the industrial park in Thai Nguyen began to be crowded with people finishing their shifts. In a room of less than 20m2, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong was cooking rice while constantly looking at the clock.
The eldest son in 3rd grade sat in front of a flickering fan, the younger one was dozing off on a mat spread in the middle of the floor. In just a few minutes, her husband will come home to change shifts to look after the child before she continues to go to the factory to work the night shift.
Summer is the most stressful time of the year for husband and wife," Ms. Hong sighed.
Both husband and wife are workers. Husband works day shifts, wife often works overtime in the evening. When schools close, the problem of taking care of children immediately becomes a pressure weighing on the whole family.
Not having enough money for their children to attend summer camps or skills courses lasting for a whole month, they also do not dare to hire babysitters because the cost is too high compared to the worker's salary of more than 8 million VND per person.
“Someday I asked for an unpaid leave to stay home with my children, but my husband was uncomfortable because of the loss of income. When it was his turn to quit, he complained that the company assessed his diligence as low. Just like that, we argued back and forth,” she recounted.
Meals in the rented room always take place quickly. This person finishes eating and quickly puts on his uniform to go to work while waiting for the other person to return in time to look after the children.
Many days, the two have not had time to say a word of kindness to each other except about electricity bills, food bills and shift changes.
Mr. Tran Van Nam - Ms. Hong's husband - sat silently for a while and said: "I know my wife is also tired, but the pressure of money makes everyone easily irritable. As soon as the child is sick or the company makes unexpected overtime, the family argues again.
According to Mr. Nam, the option of sending his children back to his hometown for his grandparents was once considered. But both parents are old and in poor health, taking care of two hyperactive children throughout the summer is not simple.
Bringing my child back to the countryside, I feel sorry for my child who lacks parents. But keeping it here, my husband and I can't handle it," he said.
In workers' boarding houses, conflicts because children are on summer vacation are no longer rare. Some families choose to let their children stay in their rented rooms with phones all day. Some couples take turns asking for temporary leave to keep their children, accepting a sharp income decrease.
Ms. Pham Thu Ha - owner of a row of rented rooms near Nam Pho Yen Industrial Park (Thai Nguyen) - said that every summer, the atmosphere in the rented room area is usually more tense than usual.
Many couples argue just because who has a day off today. The morning shift worker blames the evening shift worker, and then turns to blame low salaries, not enough money to send children," Ms. Ha recounted.
Outside the dormitory corridor, the sound of workers' motorbikes starting for the next shift. The summer of many working families is still revolving between hasty meals, consecutive shifts and questions that are not easy to answer.
