Why did there mom abandon hansel and gretel?

This is not quite clear. The Mother was alive, a welcome change from some Disney tales- where Maternal absence is seemingly status-quo. Maybe the Mother had some personal problems and could not manage the children. There are two untoward alternates. A. She may have abandoned the kids literally- like abandoning a ship- and this is frightening! or B. as there is a lockout, there is also a strike- the kids could have set out themselves- either running away from home ( this does occur in the case of Dorothy Gale) or just for fun, as explorers for a day... draw your own conclusions.