Journal of Development Studies
Volume 54, Issue 1, 2018, Pages 93-110

Labour Migration and Health of Left-Behind Children in China (Article)

Lei L.* , Liu F. , Hill E.
  • a Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States
  • b School of Management and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
  • c Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States

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. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

labor migration empirical analysis China rural area immigrant young population health status Urbanization employment
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85011672742&doi=10.1080%2f00220388.2017.1283015&partnerID=40&md5=2f3c818b372f9cd49f2449df625ee6b4
DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2017.1283015
ISSN: 00220388
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English