Working away from home might bring higher earnings than working near home. However, the absence of parents due to work can have unexpected effects on children. This paper examines the effects of the temporary absence of parents on the well-being of children aged between 5 and 8 years old in Vietnam, using indicators of  household poverty, per capita consumption expenditure, and children's time allocation. The paper relies on OLS and fixed effects regression and panel data from the  Young Lives surveys in 2007 and 2009. It finds a positive correlation between parental absence and per capita expenditure. Parental absence tends to increase per capita expenditure on food rather than non-food expenditure. Regarding the way children spend their time, there are no statistically significant effects of parental absence.