Parental Migration and Psychological Well-Being of Children in Rural China

Rui Chen and Li Zhou
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Rui Chen: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Li Zhou: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: This paper empirically analyzes the impact of parental migration on the psychological well-being of children using ordered probit models based on a survey conducted among 1680 primary school students and their parents in Majiang County, Guizhou Province, China in 2020. The findings are as follows. First, compared with having no migrant parents, having two migrant parents significantly reduces the psychological well-being of children and having one migrant parent has no significant effect. Second, mediation analysis shows that parental migration reduces child depression by increasing household absolute and relative incomes. It also increases depression and reduces the subjective happiness of children by reducing parental discipline. However, it has no significant impact on parent–child interactions. Third, by dividing the sample by absolute and relative poverty, we find that the effect of parental migration on the psychological well-being of children varies with household economic conditions. Comparatively speaking, children from poor households are more affected by parental migration in terms of depression, whereas children from non-poor households are more affected by parental migration in terms of subjective happiness. This paper examines the transmission mechanism between parental migration and the psychological well-being of children, provides a perspective of household economic conditions for child psychology and offers useful insights for family education and government policymaking in this area.

Keywords: parental migration; depression; subjective happiness; mediating effect; absolute and relative poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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