母亲外出与农村儿童健康——来自CFPS数据的证据

Mother's Migration and Children's Health——Evidence from CFPS Data

[目的/意义]在中国劳动力流动的大背景下,农村妇女外出导致的女性育儿功能弱化问题在我国农村地区已经凸现,母亲外出对农村地区的儿童健康影响如何是本文关注的核心问题。[方法/过程]利用2014年中国家庭追踪调查(CFPS)数据,讨论与检验了中国农村地区母亲外出与儿童健康状况之间的关系。[结果/结论]研究发现,母亲外出对农村儿童的年龄别身高(HAZ)及年龄别体重(WAZ)等营养健康指标均有显著的负向影响,且对学龄前儿童以及男童的影响更大。在心理健康方面,母亲外出将导致儿童的抑郁程度上升,且女童所受到的心理健康冲击明显高于男童。此外,本文还发现,农村家庭育儿数量的增加不利于儿童营养健康,而提高父母的受教育程度将在一定程度上改善儿童的营养和心理健康。因此,为更好地保证农村地区的儿童健康状况,需要为农村女性提供更多的当地就业机会,提高儿童照料替代品的可获得性,以及引导生育观念转变,减少男孩偏好。

[Purpose/Significance]In the context of China＇s labor mobility,the problem of weakening female parenting function caused by mother＇s migration has been highlighted in rural areas. Therefore,what is focused on in this article is how mother＇s migration affect the health of children in rural areas. [Method/Process]This paper discusses and examines the relationship between mothers＇ outing and children＇s health in rural China,using the China Family Panel Studies（ CFPS） 2014 data. [Result/Conclusion]As can be seen from the study,the migration of mothers has a significant negative impact on the nutritional status of rural children,such as height for age Z-scores（ HAZ） and for weight for age Z-scores（ WAZ）. And preschool children and boys are more affected. In terms of mental health,the migration of mothers will increase the depression of children. And the impact of mental health of girls was significantly higher than boys. In addition,this paper finds that increasing the number of childcare in rural areas will result in a significant decline in childcare quality,while raising the level of parental education will improve children＇s nutrition and mental health to a certain extent. Therefore,in order to better ensure the health of children in rural areas,we need to provide more local employment opportunities for rural women,improve the availability of children care alternatives,guide the transformation of fertility concept,and eliminate preference for boys.