The Effects of Parental Labor Migration on Children’s Mental Health in Rural China

Jiang, Hechao; Duan, Taixiang; Fang, Wang

doi:10.1007/s11482-021-09989-5

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This verifies Hypotheses 1.2 and 2.1. On the other hand, MC may be confronted with lower emotional well‐being and poorer social networking because they receive less understanding and more strictness from their parents (Anthony et al, 2020; Jiang & Yang, 2019; Stevens & Vollebergh, 2007). This finding verifies Hypothesis 3.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the background of accelerated migration and market‐oriented reform of the urban housing system in China, when large numbers of migrants gather in the developed cities, social classes show gradual differentiation in terms of their housing location, and isolation of migrants from local residents becomes prominent (Jiang & Yang, 2019; Peng et al, 2020; Wang, Zhang, et al, 2019). Most of the immigrants live in a “village‐in‐the‐city” with poor standards of living.…”

Section: Migrant Children Left‐behind Children and Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

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Rural–urban migration, family arrangement, and children's welfare: Evidence from China's rural areas

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to analyze the impact of different migration arrangements on child welfare.BackgroundWith the rapid economic development in China, large numbers of migrants are moving to metropolitan areas in search of better jobs. They are faced with the dilemma of whether to leave their children behind in the countryside due to various socioeconomic factors.MethodA total of 1005 children with migrant parents and 532 children with nonimmigrant parents were included. An order logit method was used to estimate the impact of family arrangements on child welfare by using China Family Panel Survey Database 2016. To control for the initial heterogeneity of individual, family, and regional characteristics, propensity score matching was used.ResultsThe findings revealed that the types of family arrangement were complicated, with 66.2% of migrant children in the city with their parents and 74.1% of children were left behind in the rural area. Children who migrate to the city with their parents had significantly greater improvement in their math and Chinese grades, overall school performance, and better physical health than left‐behind children. The impact of family arrangements on mental health was not statistically significant. The impact of migration was more pronounced for children under 12 years of age.ConclusionParents' migration decisions have significant implications for child's welfare. The presence of parents and better educational and medical resources are conducive to school performance and physical health for children. The impact of life circumstances and social identity on child's psychological health needs closer attention.ImplicationsRelaxing the household registration system, making policy adjustments that aim to improve the standard of living in places where migrants relocate, and providing conditions for integration are positive, significant steps that could be taken to promote the physical and mental health of both left‐behind and migrant children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Migrant Children Left‐behind Children and Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Rural–urban migration, family arrangement, and children's welfare: Evidence from China's rural areas

et al. 2022

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“…For example, a CES-D sample item is "I felt that I could not shake off the blues even with help from my family or friends during the past week." Studies such as Jiang et al [42] and Jiang et al [43] adopted the CEPS mental health scale in their research. The Cronbach's alpha of mental unwellness in Grade 7 students was 0.827.…”

Section: Variables Academic Performance In Chinese Mathematics and En...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle school students’ mental unwellness and academic performance in China: The effects of parental involvement

Liu

2023

PLoS ONE

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This study investigated the relationship between the mental unwellness of middle school students in China and their academic performance in the subjects of Chinese, mathematics, and English. Additionally, this study explored the potential ameliorating effects of parental involvement variables (parental non-academic activity involvement and parent-child communication) on the adverse impact of mental unwellness on academic performance. The examination of the effects of parental involvement also considered the differential effects of involvement by mothers and fathers. This study utilized national longitudinal representative data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). Findings of the two-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses indicated that mental unwellness in Grade 7 negatively impacted academic performance in the aforementioned subjects in Grade 8. Nonetheless, these adverse impacts were alleviated when the parental involvement variables were taken into account. Furthermore, the results revealed that mother-child communication and father-child communication had moderating effects on the negative relationship between mental unwellness and academic performance in Chinese and English, respectively. This study contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the beneficial effects of parental involvement and highlighting the differential involvement of mothers and fathers.

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“…Studies worldwide have shown that, besides positive economic impacts or increased household incomes through remittances that also support LBC's education [10][11][12], parental migration negatively influences the lives of children left behind [4,12,13]. Left-behind children, especially those with both parents migrating, are reported to have higher emotional problems and are more likely to experience poor psychological wellbeing compared to their counterparts [14][15][16][17][18]. Studies in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand, and the Philippines, have reported that compared to children with non-migrating parents, LBC have higher levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and lower levels of self-esteem, and have been reported to experience reduced happiness [12,15,[17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also a paucity of evidence on the children's own views and experiences of how the new daily life situations they encounter following parental migration influence their social and mental wellbeing [14,26]. Additionally, previous studies on the topic have mainly focused on examining the significance of the association of parental labour migration with poor mental health wellbeing of the LBC, with a paucity of indepth qualitative research seeking to explore and understand the mental health challenges that these children face [13,14,16,26,27]. Indonesia is a significant contributor to the international migrant workforce, with over four million Indonesian labour migrants employed in more than twenty-five countries globally [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental migration and the social and mental wellbeing challenges among Indonesia left-behind children: A qualitative study

Fauk,

Seran,

Aylward

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Parental labour migration, either one or both parents, has been associated with various challenges among left-behind children (LBC). However, there is a limited understanding of the LBC’s own views and experiences of social and mental wellbeing and how the new daily life circumstances they encounter following their parents’ migration impact them. This study aimed to understand the influence of parental migration and its aftermath on the social and mental wellbeing of children and adolescents (referred to as LBC) in two rural districts in Indonesia. Employing a qualitative design, data were collected through individual in-depth interviews with LBC (n=24) aged 14 to 18 years, recruited using the snowball sampling technique. Data were thematically analysed, guided by a qualitative data analysis framework. The findings showed that parental migration negatively impacted the social wellbeing of LBC. This impact was reflected in negative labelling from friends and changes in familial roles which influenced their social interactions and activities with peers. Parental migration also caused challenges to the mental wellbeing of LBC. These manifested in the LBC experiencing fractured emotional bonds, leading to negative emotions, including stress, anxiety, sadness, depression, frustration, loss of motivation, and self-imposed isolation, which were associated with their parents’ migration and abrupt disruptions in parent-child communication. The transition to new life situations with caregivers after parental migration and the dynamics within the caregivers’ households were additional factors that detrimentally affected their mental well-being. Unmet basic needs and educational needs due to financial hardships faced by mothers and caregivers, further exacerbated mental health challenges for the children. The findings indicate the importance and improvement of policies and interventions in Indonesia (e.g., counselling services, non-cash food assistance, family hope program, direct cash assistance) that cover and address the diverse needs of mothers or caregivers and the LBC.

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The Effects of Parental Labor Migration on Children’s Mental Health in Rural China

Cited by 6 publications

References 48 publications

Rural–urban migration, family arrangement, and children's welfare: Evidence from China's rural areas

Rural–urban migration, family arrangement, and children's welfare: Evidence from China's rural areas

Middle school students’ mental unwellness and academic performance in China: The effects of parental involvement

Parental migration and the social and mental wellbeing challenges among Indonesia left-behind children: A qualitative study

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