Chinese Studies

The rise of the floating population in China has greatly stimulated researchers' interest in studying the trends and characteristics of internal migrants, as well as their roles in China's economic transformations. Recent estimation from the Bi-Census data of 2005 suggests as many as 58 million children (under age 18) are left-behind in migrant-sending regions while their parents are away working. The absence of these migrant parents from the home may bring both short- and long-term consequences for their left-behind children.

Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to study 236 rural families and interview 272 left-behind children, in ten villages of four provinces: Shandong, Henan, Hebei and Shanxi. Previous research has suggested that long term separation, from parents or parent, has the following adverse effects: depression, loneliness, anxiety, anger, behavioral problems at school, low academic achievement motivation, lack of self-esteem, misbehavior, truancy, and stealing. Statistical analyses revealed mixed findings. The research study finds similar negative effects on the left-behind children, as well as differences between the left-behind children the non-left-behind children in many aspects of their lives, due to the parental absence. However, contrary to previous research studies, the current study also suggests some positive influences on the children's development as long as the children's temporary guardians such as one parent, grandparents or relatives, schools or community take initiatives to direct and guide the children toward appropriate goals. Based on the research findings, the author recommends, to policy makers and care givers, some possible means to help the left-behind children develop in positive and constructive ways.

The impact of labour migration on rural households in China has become a topic of interest to scholars both inside and outside China. Household members who stay in the village while others migrate have been referred to as the “left-behind”. This paper explores who is “left-behind” in one village in Gansu, China, using interview data collected from forty-eight households. The author concludes that the label “left-behind” is a limited one, as rural households engage in migration strategies linked to their life-cycle stages and participate in multiple strategies for income generation, combining agriculture, local employment, nonlocal employment, and other activities.

Using data from China's family panel survey 2014, I compare the education performance of children who are leftbehind, children who migrate with their parents from rural to urban areas, and children who are not affected by these factors. My results show that, in rural areas, being a left behind child has a significant negative association with academic performance; and that rural children who migrate with their parents experience limited gain in academic performance. To enhance the robustness of my findings, I also analyze potential underlying mechanisms behind these outcome patterns (e.g., malnutrition, mental health). These tests reveal that both rural left-behind children and rural migrating children are more likely to suffer from malnutrition, a lower involvement of parents in their education, and a greater likelihood of struggling with mental illness. These findings have important implications for policy efforts to address problems of education equality and quality in China.