IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v39y2020i4d10.1007_s11113-020-09568-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Childhood Left-Behind Experience and Employment Quality of New-Generation Migrants in China

Author

Listed:
  • Jianbo Liu

    (China Agricultural University)

  • Xiaodong Zheng

    (Zhejiang Gongshang University)

  • Marie Parker

    (Georgia State University)

  • Xiangming Fang

    (China Agricultural University
    Georgia State University)

Abstract

This is the first study that empirically investigates the associations between left-behind experience in childhood and the quality of employment in adulthood for young rural-to-urban migrants in China, a population known as new-generation migrants. Toward this end, we consider several indicators of employment quality, including wages, employee benefits, work intensity and employment stability, and explore the possible channels between the childhood left-behind experience and employment quality indicators. Our 2013 Migrant Worker Survey shows that 40% of young migrants (n = 1802) have been left-behind for more than 6 months before 16 years of age and 7% of new-generation migrants have childhood left-behind experience for at least 3 years. Through empirical analysis, we find that the childhood left-behind experience, especially long-term experience, adversely affects the wages and employment stability of young migrants. In addition, the results of this study show that long-term left-behind experience is adversely associated with correlates of human capital, especially mental health, which subsequently affects adulthood employment quality. Policies should be improved to decrease the occurrence of left-behind children and, when this cannot be avoided, programs and services are required to reduce the negative effects of childhood left-behind experience on new-generation migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianbo Liu & Xiaodong Zheng & Marie Parker & Xiangming Fang, 2020. "Childhood Left-Behind Experience and Employment Quality of New-Generation Migrants in China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 691-718, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:39:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09568-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-020-09568-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-020-09568-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-020-09568-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Z. & Li, X. & Ge, X., 2009. "Left too early: The effects of age at separation from parents on Chinese rural children's symptoms of anxiety and depression," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(11), pages 2049-2054.
    2. Cawley, John & Liu, Feng, 2012. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity: A search for mechanisms in time use data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 352-364.
    3. Qu, Zhaopeng & Zhao, Zhong, 2017. "Glass ceiling effect in urban China: Wage inequality of rural-urban migrants during 2002–2007," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 118-144.
    4. Pedro Carneiro & James J. Heckman & Edward J. Vytlacil, 2011. "Estimating Marginal Returns to Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2754-2781, October.
    5. Andrew Heisz, 2005. "The evolution of job stability in Canada: trends and comparisons with U.S. results," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(1), pages 105-127, February.
    6. Goode, Alison & Mavromaras, Kostas & zhu, Rong, 2014. "Family income and child health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 152-165.
    7. Zhao, Qiran & Yu, Xiaohua & Wang, Xiaobing & Glauben, Thomas, 2014. "The impact of parental migration on children's school performance in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 43-54.
    8. Van Aerden, Karen & Puig-Barrachina, Vanessa & Bosmans, Kim & Vanroelen, Christophe, 2016. "How does employment quality relate to health and job satisfaction in Europe? A typological approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 132-140.
    9. Giles, John, 2006. "Is life more risky in the open? Household risk-coping and the opening of China's labor markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 25-60, October.
    10. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    11. Ma, Xinxin, 2018. "Labor market segmentation by industry sectors and wage gaps between migrants and local urban residents in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-115.
    12. Thomas Philippon & Ariell Reshef, 2012. "Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Finance Industry: 1909--2006," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(4), pages 1551-1609.
    13. Damon Jones & David Molitor & Julian Reif, 2019. "What do Workplace Wellness Programs do? Evidence from the Illinois Workplace Wellness Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1747-1791.
    14. Budy Resosudarmo & Daniel Suryadarma, 2011. "The Effect of Childhood Migration on Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Rural-Urban Migrants in Indonesia," Departmental Working Papers 2011-02, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    15. Y. Zhu & Z. Wu & L. Peng & L. Sheng, 2014. "Where did all the remittances go? Understanding the impact of remittances on consumption patterns in rural China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(12), pages 1312-1322, April.
    16. Lianlian Lei & Feng Liu & Elaine Hill, 2018. "Labour Migration and Health of Left-Behind Children in China," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(1), pages 93-110, January.
    17. Andrew Heisz, 2005. "The evolution of job stability in Canada: trends and comparisons with U.S. results," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 105-127, February.
    18. Metzler, Marilyn & Merrick, Melissa T. & Klevens, Joanne & Ports, Katie A. & Ford, Derek C., 2017. "Adverse childhood experiences and life opportunities: Shifting the narrative," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 141-149.
    19. Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Enrique Fernández-Macías & José-Ignacio Antón & Fernando Esteve, 2011. "Measuring More than Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14072.
    20. Xiaodong Zheng & Xiangming Fang & Deborah A. Fry & Gary Ganz & Tabitha Casey & Celia Hsiao & Catherine L. Ward, 2018. "Association of Child Maltreatment with South African Adults’ Wages: Evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    21. Xiangming Fang & Xiaodong Zheng & Deborah A. Fry & Gary Ganz & Tabitha Casey & Celia Hsiao & Catherine L. Ward, 2017. "The Economic Burden of Violence against Children in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-14, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    2. Haiping Xu & Qunyong Jiang & Chuqiao Zhang & Shahzad Ahmad, 2023. "Left-behind experience and children’s multidimensional poverty: Evidence from rural China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(1), pages 199-225, February.
    3. Feng, Qundi & He, Qinying, 2022. "Does parental migration increase upward intergenerational mobility? Evidence from rural China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Zheng, Xiaodong & Fang, Zuyi & Wang, Yajun & Fang, Xiangming, 2022. "When left-behind children become adults and parents: The long-term human capital consequences of parental absence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben & Chen, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Childhood left-behind experience and labour market outcomes in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-207.
    6. Li, Lingfang (Ivy) & Wu, Yuting & Zhu, Xun & Chu, Rongwei & Hung, Iris, 2022. "Job Changing Frequency and Experimental Decisions: A Field Study of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Industry," MPRA Paper 115472, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Min Wu & Mengyun Jin & Luyao Zeng & Yihao Tian, 2022. "The Effects of Parental Migrant Work Experience on Labor Market Performance of Rural-Urban Migrants: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Xiaodong Zheng & Yue Zhang & Yu Chen & Xiangming Fang, 2021. "Internal Migration Experience and Depressive Symptoms among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaodong Zheng & Shuangyue Shangguan & Zheng Shen & Hualei Yang, 2023. "Social Pensions and Children’s Educational Outcomes: The Case of New Rural Pension Scheme in China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 502-521, June.
    2. Zheng, Xiaodong & Fang, Zuyi & Wang, Yajun & Fang, Xiangming, 2022. "When left-behind children become adults and parents: The long-term human capital consequences of parental absence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Lauber, Verena & Thomas, Lampert, 2014. "The Effect of Early Universal Daycare on Child Weight Problems," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100399, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Bart Cockx & Jinkai Li & Erga Luo, 2023. "The Long-Term Impact of Parental Migration on the Health of Young Left-Behind Children," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023019, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    5. Yue Zhang & Xiaodong Zheng, 2022. "Internal migration and child health: An investigation of health disparities between migrant children and left-behind children in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Zhao, Q. & Sun, X. & Guo, P. & Liu, X., 2018. "China s Migrant and Left-behind Children: Correlation of Parental Migration on Health, Cognitive and Non-cognitive Outcomes," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277164, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Wang, Siyu & Xu, Hui, 2021. "The impact of parental migration on social identity - A framed field experiment with left-behind children in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 246-257.
    8. Xie, Xiaoxia & Huang, Chien-Chung & Chen, Yafan & Hao, Feng, 2019. "Intelligent robots and rural children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 283-290.
    9. Pierre Brochu & Till Gross & Christopher Worswick, 2020. "Temporary foreign workers and firms: Theory and Canadian evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(3), pages 871-915, August.
    10. Pierre Brochu, 2013. "The source of the new Canadian job stability patterns," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(2), pages 412-440, May.
    11. Swaminathan, Harini & Sharma, Anurag & Shah, Narendra G., 2019. "Does the relationship between income and child health differ across income groups? Evidence from India," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 57-73.
    12. Olena Kostyshyna & Etienne Lalé, 2022. "On the evolution of multiple jobholding in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 1095-1134, May.
    13. Cadsby, C. Bram & Song, Fei & Yang, Xiaolan, 2020. "Are “left-behind” children really left behind? A lab-in-field experiment concerning the impact of rural/urban status and parental migration on children's other-regarding preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 715-728.
    14. Morissette, Rene & Ostrovsky, Yuri, 2005. "Summary Of: The Instability of Family Earnings and Family Income in Canada, 1986 to 1991 and 1996 to 2001," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2005266e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    15. Miikka Rokkanen & Roope Uusitalo, 2013. "Changes in Job Stability – Evidence from Lifetime Job Histories," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 36-55, Autumn.
    16. Björn Gustafsson & Haiyuan Wan, 2018. "Wage growth and inequality in urban China: 1988–2013," WIDER Working Paper Series 163, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Pierre Brochu & Lu Zhou, 2009. "Is job insecurity on the rise? Evidence from Canadian perception data," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 1305-1325, November.
    18. Michele Campolieti, 2011. "The ins and outs of unemployment in Canada, 1976–2008," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 1331-1349, November.
    19. Zhang, Zhenhua & Zhang, Guoxing & Su, Bin, 2022. "The spatial impacts of air pollution and socio-economic status on public health: Empirical evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Braga, Breno & Blavin, Fredric & Gangopadhyaya, Anuj, 2019. "The Long-Term Effects of Childhood Exposure to the Earned Income Tax Credit on Health Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 12417, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:39:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09568-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.