The lasting impact of parental migration on children's education and health outcomes: The case of China

Educational Expectations of Left-behind Children in China: Determinants and Gender Differences

“…Comparisons between children raised by grandparents and those raised by parents suggest there are significant differences in educational outcomes (Yue et al, 2020). Liang and Sun (2020) suggested that grandparents may not necessarily be good educators. Unless more integrated social policies being implemented in Chinese cities so as to reduce the number of left-behind children in rural China, the educational inequality faced by left-behind children cannot be fundamentally solved.…”

“…The care arrangement may also play a role concerning on the negative impacts of separation from parents. Although being looked after by grandparents particularly in primary school stage does compromise children's educational attainment, being left behind with grandparents is still an important alternative for children's growth compared with being taken care of by other kinship or friendship (Liang & Sun, 2020). These provide hints that the children's guardians during migration and the contacts with their parents may affect educational expectations of left-behind children.…”

“…Comparatively, children left behind with at least one parent (father or mother) at home or who are taken care of by grandparents when both parents emigrate are associated with relatively higher educational expectations. Although grandparents can be dedicated caregivers but may not necessarily be good educators (Liang & Sun, 2020), grandparents remain a good substitute for parents in terms of meeting children's basic needs for food and shelter and providing emotional support. As shown in Model 1, when being left behind by both parents, children who are taken care of by grandparents have a 0.584 increase in the log odds of intention to pursue senior high school education and a 1.138 increase in the log odds of intention to pursue college education and above.…”

Marketization and crime in contemporary China: Puzzles for criminological theorizing*

“…In addition, criminogenic processes associated with the Hukou system might conceivably be interpreted with reference to processes of “enfeeblement” of noneconomic social institutions, such as the family and the schools, for selected segments of the population. Specifically, research has documented family strains and impediments to educational attainment for the “children left behind” and the migrant children in urban areas whose parents lack local Hukou (Liang & Sun, 2020; Liang et al., 2020). These conditions might very well pose challenges for supervision, support, and socialization of the young that parallel some of those theorized to accompany dominance of the economy.…”

“… See Liang (2016) for an extensive review of the general literature on internal migration in China, andQi (2020) for an analysis of migrants' involvement in crime and responses of the criminal justice system. See alsoZhao (2008) andBakken (2017) for applications of Mertonian anomie theory to explain crimes of both the socially advantaged and disadvantaged in China.11 I am grateful to Yunhan Zhao for suggesting linkages between the Hukou system and institutional "enfeeblement" processes that align with IAT.12 Parental migration during the elementary school years is especially likely to have negative long-term consequences for educational outcomes of the "left behind" children (seeLiang & Sun, 2020).13 Polanyi assigned a prominent role to the state in the initial imposition of a market system, while emphasizing the protective role of the welfare state at later stages of development. SeeDale (2010, pp.…”