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How far is Chinese left-behind parents' health left behind?

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  • Huang, Bihong
  • Lian, Yujun
  • Li, Wensu

Abstract

Using data from the four waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), this paper assesses the impacts of adult children migration on the health of their parents left behind. We employ the endogenous treatment effects model to address the selection bias and infer the causal effects of children migration on parental health. We find that children migration significantly impairs the health of their elderly kin. Moreover, children migration has remarkably differentiated locality, gender, age, and employment impacts, with rural, female, old-aged, and unemployed parents being more likely to suffer from poor health than their urban, male, middle-aged, and employed counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Bihong & Lian, Yujun & Li, Wensu, 2016. "How far is Chinese left-behind parents' health left behind?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 15-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:37:y:2016:i:c:p:15-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2015.07.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Yosuke Inoue & Annie Green Howard & Bo Qin & Aki Yazawa & Andrew Stickley & Penny Gordon-Larsen, 2019. "The association between family members’ migration and cognitive function among people left behind in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-11, September.
    2. Menghua Li & Yun Zhou & Xinjie Shi, 2021. "Who Will Care for Middle Aged and Elderly Parents in Rural China?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(2), pages 123-150, March.
    3. Kumar, Sneha, 2021. "Offspring's labor migration and its implications for elderly parents' emotional wellbeing in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    4. De Neve, Jan-Walter & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2017. "Spillovers between siblings and from offspring to parents are understudied: A review and future directions for research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 56-61.
    5. Tianxiang Li & Beibei Wu & Fujin Yi & Bin Wang & Tomas Baležentis, 2020. "What Happens to the Health of Elderly Parents When Adult Child Migration Splits Households? Evidence from Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Agadjanian, Victor & Hayford, Sarah R. & Jansen, Natalie A., 2021. "Men's migration and women's mortality in rural Mozambique," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    7. Sha Cao & Dingde Xu & Yi Liu & Shaoquan Liu, 2019. "The Impact of Rural Labor Migration on Elderly Health from the Perspective of Gender Structure: A Case Study in Western China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Sarah Bridges & Lefan Liu, 2022. "The impact of child migration on the health and well‐being of parents left behind," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1145-1164, August.
    9. Zhu, Ruini & Yuan, Ye & Wang, Yaojing, 2024. "Love, health, and robots: Automation, migration, and family responses in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    10. Kesavayuth, Dusanee & Liang, Yufang & Zikos, Vasileios, 2018. "An active lifestyle and cognitive function: Evidence from China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 183-191.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Left behind; Parents; Health; Endogeneous treatment effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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