Migrate with Parent(s) or Not? Developmental Outcomes between Migrant and Left-behind Children from Rural China

Qin Zhang (), Yuhan Luo (), Hao Chen (), Xinghui Zhang (), Senbi Deng (), Weixi Zeng () and Yun Wang ()
Additional contact information
Qin Zhang: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Yuhan Luo: Beijing Normal University
Hao Chen: Nan Kai University
Xinghui Zhang: Hainan Normal University
Senbi Deng: Chengdu Academy of Education Sciences
Weixi Zeng: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Yun Wang: Beijing Normal University

Child Indicators Research, 2019, vol. 12, issue 4, No 2, 1147-1166

Abstract: Abstract This study aimed to examine the psychological and behavioral effects of family migration on left-behind (left by one or two parents) and migrant children. Participants included children from the National Children’s Study of China (N = 18,396, aged 7–15 years, 50.6% boys) including both left-behind and migrant children (n = 1168, 839 and 1185, respectively). Children from non-migrant families were also examined (n = 5126) as a reference group. The results indicated that left-behind children with two migrant parents have greater depression and engage in more unhealthy behaviors than do non-migrant children from rural families, and left-behind children with one migrant parent showed comparable developmental outcomes to non-migrant children. Family factors were found to be positively associated with migrant children’s development. Teacher support was found to be more important for middle school students than for elementary school students in terms of school liking. Belief in a just world was more beneficial for mediating girls’ depression than boys’. Furthermore, for girls, the negative predictive effect of perceived parental support for unhealthy behaviors is smaller for left-behind children with two migrant parents and migrant children than that for non-migrant children. For boys, the negative predictive effect of perceived parental support on unhealthy behaviors is greater for migrant children than that for non-migrant children. This research depicts a comprehensive model of how family migration affects children’s development, and its findings could be of value in regard to creating family- and school-guiding policies for migrant workers.

Keywords: Left-behind children; Migrant children; Rural family; Child development; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-018-9578-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12187-018-9578-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... f-life/journal/12187

DOI: 10.1007/s12187-018-9578-8

Access Statistics for this article

Child Indicators Research is currently edited by Asher Ben-Arieh

More articles in Child Indicators Research from Springer, The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().