Last summer, Yang Dongmei’s (pseudonym) two young sons spent the holiday with their mother for the first time—not in Henan province, where they live for most of the year with their grandparents, but on the premises of the Guangdong factory where Yang works. They were participants in a pilot program run by ICTI Care, a non-profit organization devoted to maintaining ethical manufacturing practices in the toy industry.

“We got the chance to be together as a family,” Yang recalled to The Guardian. “Working, then eating as a family afterwards. We never had that before.”

According to the article, about one-third of the Chinese work force, or 277 million workers, currently possesses household registration in rural areas despite working in urban areas. In response to this issue, ICTI Care developed a new project in cooperation with the Center for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR), funding child care centers in five factories over the summer in 2016.

Staff from each participating factory was specially trained in the implementation of the program, and dedicated spaces away from the factory floor were converted into “safe, secure and colorful” spaces for children, according to Mark Robertson, director of communications and stakeholder relations for the ICTI Care foundation. Staff entertained the children during the day with activities including singing, dancing, drawing, games and movies, as well as a dedicated period for homework, Robertson described.

The response so far has been positive, and ICTI Care plans to expand the program to more factories this summer. In addition to the families that benefit, ICTI Care and CCR CSR have identified tangible perks for participating factories as well. An impact report by CCR CSR found that the summer child care programs improved relations between workers and managers, increased worker satisfaction and helped participating children to become more social. Robertson also pointed out that the factories in the pilot program reported increased rates of employee retention.

Despite these early successes, comprehensive social reform is the only viable long-term solution, Texas A&M associated professor Cara Wallis told The Guardian. Wallis believes that even though some reforms have already been made to China's household registration system, and more are promised in the future, these changes are not necessarily enough. She cites rural development and a more equitable distribution of social resources as crucial to improving the lives of migrant workers and children.