This study investigates the impact of parental labor migration on the academic achievements and non-academic growth of left-behind children in fourth and seventh grades. Employing survey data collected from rural Chin...This study investigates the impact of parental labor migration on the academic achievements and non-academic growth of left-behind children in fourth and seventh grades. Employing survey data collected from rural China in 2014, 2015, and 2016, we examine the effect of parental absence on children's academic achievement using Propensity Score Matching(PSM) and Difference in Difference(DID) methods. The results demonstrate that left-behind children whose parents have migrated for one year have statistically significantly lower academic scores. Academic scores drop lower for fourthgrade students and students from higher-income families. There are also adverse effects on left-behind children's confidence, teacher-student relationships, subjective well-being, and educational expectations if parents migrate for one year. Surprisingly, if parental migration lasts longer(totaling two years), these adverse effects disappear, and student's educational expectations even improve. These results may be because, over time, the adverse effects that occur immediately after parental migration are offset by the positive effects of migration(i.e. higher income). These conclusions can inform migrant parents on ways to utilize their resources to improve the academic performance of their left-behind children.展开更多
Since the 1990s, the large-scale migrant labor force from rural to urban areas has made great contributions to the growth in China. However, migration does not come without costs. The potential impacts of parental mig...Since the 1990s, the large-scale migrant labor force from rural to urban areas has made great contributions to the growth in China. However, migration does not come without costs. The potential impacts of parental migration on the left-behind children have aroused wide concerns. Based on a two-wave panel dataset of nearly 10 thousand students in 166 schools from 13 counties in 5 provinces between 2014 and 2015, differences-in-differences （DID） and propensity score matching plus DID （PSMDID） approaches were used to examine the changes in academic performances before and after the parental out-migration. The results indicated that the mother only migration has a significant negative impact on the a- cademic performances of left-behind children, and it was especially true when the mother only migration lasted more than a semester. For left-behind children whose parents were out or only the father was out, their academic performances were not affected.展开更多
基金financial support from the Overseas Expertise Introduction Project for Discipline Innovation (B16031)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71703084)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2017CSZ021)
文摘This study investigates the impact of parental labor migration on the academic achievements and non-academic growth of left-behind children in fourth and seventh grades. Employing survey data collected from rural China in 2014, 2015, and 2016, we examine the effect of parental absence on children's academic achievement using Propensity Score Matching(PSM) and Difference in Difference(DID) methods. The results demonstrate that left-behind children whose parents have migrated for one year have statistically significantly lower academic scores. Academic scores drop lower for fourthgrade students and students from higher-income families. There are also adverse effects on left-behind children's confidence, teacher-student relationships, subjective well-being, and educational expectations if parents migrate for one year. Surprisingly, if parental migration lasts longer(totaling two years), these adverse effects disappear, and student's educational expectations even improve. These results may be because, over time, the adverse effects that occur immediately after parental migration are offset by the positive effects of migration(i.e. higher income). These conclusions can inform migrant parents on ways to utilize their resources to improve the academic performance of their left-behind children.
文摘Since the 1990s, the large-scale migrant labor force from rural to urban areas has made great contributions to the growth in China. However, migration does not come without costs. The potential impacts of parental migration on the left-behind children have aroused wide concerns. Based on a two-wave panel dataset of nearly 10 thousand students in 166 schools from 13 counties in 5 provinces between 2014 and 2015, differences-in-differences （DID） and propensity score matching plus DID （PSMDID） approaches were used to examine the changes in academic performances before and after the parental out-migration. The results indicated that the mother only migration has a significant negative impact on the a- cademic performances of left-behind children, and it was especially true when the mother only migration lasted more than a semester. For left-behind children whose parents were out or only the father was out, their academic performances were not affected.
