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Effect of Migration on Children's Self-esteem in Rural China

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  • Xuefeng Zhan
  • Shaoping Li
  • Chengfang Liu
  • Linxiu Zhang

Abstract

China's rapid economic growth has been facilitated by its large volume of rural to urban migration. China's projected future development, especially increasing urbanization, implies that such migration will further intensify. However, migration does not come without cost. There are concerns about the potential negative impacts of migration on children's care, education, and, in particular, the self-esteem of children left behind in villages where one or both parents have out-migrated to cities. In this paper, we employ unique survey data collected from Shaanxi Province, where more than 4700 ninth grade students from 36 rural junior high schools in five counties were surveyed in late 2011. The results show that having both parents migrate into cities significantly reduced children's self-esteem. The effects are also gender sensitive. Girls that had a father or both parents who had out-migrated were inclined to have lower self-esteem than boys. Moreover, our study findings indicate that parental migration decreased children's self-esteem more for individuals with initial low self-esteem.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuefeng Zhan & Shaoping Li & Chengfang Liu & Linxiu Zhang, 2014. "Effect of Migration on Children's Self-esteem in Rural China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 22(4), pages 83-101, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:22:y:2014:i:4:p:83-101
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    Cited by:

    1. Yaojiang Shi & Yu Bai & Yanni Shen & Kaleigh Kenny & Scott Rozelle, 2016. "Effects of Parental Migration on Mental Health of Left-behind Children: Evidence from Northwestern China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 24(3), pages 105-122, May.
    2. Fangbin Qiao & Scott Rozelle & Linxiu Zhang & Yi Yao & Jian Zhang, 2015. "Impact of Childcare and Eldercare on Off-farm Activities in Rural China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 23(2), pages 100-120, March.
    3. Hua Zhou & Di Mo & Renfu Luo & Ai Yue & Scott Rozelle, 2016. "Are Children with Siblings Really More Vulnerable Than Only Children in Health, Cognition and Non-cognitive Outcomes? Evidence from a Multi-province Dataset in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 24(3), pages 3-17, May.
    4. Wang, Jianxin & Yuan, Caiyun & Zhang, Qian & Houser, Daniel, 2023. "Parents’ absence harms norm obedience of girls more than boys," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 17-29.
    5. 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.
    6. Wenjing Yu & Yiwei Qian & Cody Abbey & Huan Wang & Scott Rozelle & Lauren Ann Stoffel & Chenxu Dai, 2022. "The Role of Self-Esteem in the Academic Performance of Rural Students in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-16, October.

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