Year: 2010
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In recent years, China has witnessed a massive wave of rural-to-urban migration, which frequently results in family separations. This study uses panel data from a longitudinal study of rural children inwestern China to analyze the impact of migration by fathers on the development of children left behind in rural villages. Child development indicators include both measures of academic attainment, such as enrollment, years held back, and test scores in math and language; as well as measures of non-cognitive skills, specifically children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior which reflects their psychosocial development. To identify the effect of changes in parental migration on changes in child outcomes, we instrument changes in migration status with labor market shocks to village-specific migration destinations. Results suggest that fathers’ migration reduces enrolment by sons, has significant positive effects on the academic outcomes of daughters, but has negative effects on the psychosocial well-being of both boys and girls.
Authors: Leng Lee, Albert Park
Institutions: University of Pennsylvania, University of Oxford
Language: English
Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2099041746