They generally came from poor families and had not received any schooling. Although many of them had worked in tea houses, geisha houses, bars, and hotels before being sent abroad, a third of them had only done household chores or farm work.
大多家境貧困，未受過學校教育，到海外之前，雖然許多人曾在茶室、藝旦間、酒家旅館工作或擔任過食堂的女服務生，但也有三分之一比例從事家務或務農。