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Labour Migration and Health of Left-Behind Children in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lianlian Lei
  • Feng Liu
  • Elaine Hill

Abstract

With rapid urbanisation, millions of people from rural areas have migrated to major cities for employment, leaving their young children at home. This labour migration creates substantial mental and physical challenges for these left-behind children. This study establishes two empirical models for comparing the health status of left-behind children with that of children in rural areas without migrant parents and with that of migrant children in urban areas. Our empirical findings reveal that parental migration negatively affects the height and weight indices of left-behind children. The effects are particularly prominent for younger children, when both parents migrate or when parents migrate out of province.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:54:y:2018:i:1:p:93-110
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2017.1283015
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Yexin & Chen, Siwei & Chen, Yefeng & Vollan, Björn, 2022. "Does parental migration impede the development of the cooperative preferences in their left-behind children? Evidence from a large-scale field experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Siti Nur Azizah & Samsubar Saleh & Eny Sulistyaningrum, 2022. "The Effect of Working Mother Status on Children’s Education Attainment: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-22, February.
    3. Qiushi Zhou & Shaolingyun Guo & Hui Jing Lu, 2021. "Well-Being and Health of Children in Rural China: the Roles of Parental Absence, Economic Status, and Neighborhood Environment," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2023-2037, October.
    4. Justina Račaitė & Jutta Lindert & Khatia Antia & Volker Winkler & Rita Sketerskienė & Marija Jakubauskienė & Linda Wulkau & Genė Šurkienė, 2021. "Parent Emigration, Physical Health and Related Risk and Preventive Factors of Children Left Behind: A Systematic Review of Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    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. 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).
    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. Sun, Feinuo & Liang, Zai, 2021. "Parental migration and anemia status of children in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    10. Hui Xiao & Xian Liang & Shu Xing & Longjunjiang Huang & Fangting Xie, 2023. "Does Land Lease Affect the Multidimensional Poverty Alleviation? The Evidence from Jiangxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, April.
    11. Zhang, Haomiao, 2018. "A qualitative study on the rights of rural left-behind children in Sichuan Province, China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 12-18.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Long, Wenjin & Pang, Xiaopeng & Dong, Xiao-yuan & Zeng, Junxia, 2020. "Is rented accommodation a good choice for primary school students' academic performance? – Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    15. Liu, Mengqi & Villa, Kira M., 2020. "Solution or isolation: Is boarding school a good solution for left-behind children in rural China?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    16. Xiaoxia Xie & Yafan Chen & Shannon Cheung & Chien-Chung Huang, 2022. "Social Innovation and Health-Related Well-Being of Left-Behind Children: Evidence from an Intelligent Robot Project in China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2597-2617, October.
    17. Yu, Yanying & Chen, Kevin & Liu, Chengfang & Li, Shaoping, 2021. "Parental Migration and Children’s Dietary Diversity: Evidence from Rural China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315017, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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