IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v266y2020ics0277953620305803.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of increased family finance and dual-parental absence since infancy on Children's cognitive Abilities

Author

Listed:
  • Hou, Wen-Peng
  • Tan, Tony Xing
  • Wen, Yu-Jie
  • Wang, Xue-Qi
  • Li, Xian-Bin
  • Wang, Chuan-Yue

Abstract

Existing research suggests that parental absence per se does not have a main effect on children's cognitive development. However, this body of research is confounded by decreased family finance resulted from parental absence. Further insights on children's cognitive development can be gained by studying situations where parental absence actually leads to higher family finance. China's rural left-behind children (LBC) are uniquely suited for this purpose because of their extended separation from parents who migrated to work for better family finance. The participants were 74 LBC (M = 9.99 years, SD = 2.66) whose parents both migrated away for work within six months of their births and 74 non-left-behind children (NLBC) (M = 10.03 years, SD = 2.58) of similar backgrounds but whose parents never migrated. We used the 4th Edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) to individually collected data on the children's Verbal Comprehension (which includes Similarities, Vocabulary, and Comprehension subtests), Perceptual Reasoning (which includes Block Design, Picture Concepts and Matric Reasoning subtests), Working Memory (which includes Digit Span and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests), and Processing Speed (which includes Coding and Symbol Search subtests). We found that the LBC scored lower than the NLBC on the language Comprehension and Vocabulary subtests of the Verbal Comprehension Index (Cohen's d = 0.41; p = .01). Subsequent General Linear Modeling analyses revealed that for the Comprehension subtest: (1) dual-parental absence significantly and negatively predicted Comprehension scores and (2) monthly family income significantly and positively predicted Comprehension scores for the LBC but not for the NLBC. For Vocabulary subtest, only dual-parental absence was significant. Overall, these results offer a deeper understanding on the effect of dual parental absence and changes in family finance on different domains of children's cognitive development.

Suggested Citation

  • Hou, Wen-Peng & Tan, Tony Xing & Wen, Yu-Jie & Wang, Xue-Qi & Li, Xian-Bin & Wang, Chuan-Yue, 2020. "The effect of increased family finance and dual-parental absence since infancy on Children's cognitive Abilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:266:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620305803
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113361
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620305803
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113361?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ai Yue & Yu Bai & Yaojiang Shi & Renfu Luo & Scott Rozelle & Alexis Medina & Sean Sylvia, 2020. "Parental Migration and Early Childhood Development in Rural China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 403-422, April.
    2. Jia Wu & Junsen Zhang, 2017. "The Effect of Parental Absence on Child Development in Rural China," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 117-134, January.
    3. Ian Deary, 2008. "Why do intelligent people live longer?," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7219), pages 175-176, November.
    4. Viet Nguyen, Cuong, 2016. "Does parental migration really benefit left-behind children? Comparative evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 230-239.
    5. Zhang, Hongliang & Behrman, Jere R. & Fan, C. Simon & Wei, Xiangdong & Zhang, Junsen, 2014. "Does parental absence reduce cognitive achievements? Evidence from rural China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 181-195.
    6. Lara, Jaime, 2015. "International migration and human capital in Mexico: Networks or parental absence?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 131-142.
    7. repec:mpr:mprres:5983 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Minhui Zhou & Rachel Murphy & Ran Tao, 2014. "Effects of Parents' Migration on the Education of Children Left Behind in Rural China," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(2), pages 273-292, June.
    9. Rachel Murphy, 2014. "Study and School in the Lives of Children in Migrant Families: A View from Rural Jiangxi, China," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 45(1), pages 29-51, January.
    10. Kam Wing Chan, 2010. "The Household Registration System and Migrant Labor in China: Notes on a Debate," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 357-364, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben & Chen, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Childhood left-behind experience and labour market outcomes in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-207.
    2. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming, 2022. "Kids eat free: School feeding and family spending on education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 196-212.
    3. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2024. "Parental early-life exposure to land reform and household investment in children’s education," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    4. Qiu, Hui & Liang, Xiao & Sun, Dan, 2024. "Parental migration, sibling migration, and the educational outcomes of children left behind in rural China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Wang, Jianxin & Yuan, Caiyun & Zhang, Qian & Houser, Daniel, 2023. "Parents’ absence harms norm obedience of girls more than boys," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 17-29.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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).
    2. Wang, Haining & Zhu, Rong, 2021. "Social spillovers of China’s left-behind children in the classroom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Feng, Qundi & He, Qinying, 2022. "Does parental migration increase upward intergenerational mobility? Evidence from rural China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben & Chen, Yuanyuan, 2021. "Childhood left-behind experience and labour market outcomes in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-207.
    5. Liu, Zhiqiang & Yu, Li & Zheng, Xiang, 2018. "No longer left-behind: The impact of return migrant parents on children's performance," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 184-196.
    6. Wang, Jianxin & Yuan, Caiyun & Zhang, Qian & Houser, Daniel, 2023. "Parents’ absence harms norm obedience of girls more than boys," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 17-29.
    7. Bai, Yu & Yang, Ning & Wang, Lei & Zhang, Siqi, 2022. "The impacts of maternal migration on the cognitive development of preschool-aged children left behind in rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Zai Liang & Feinuo Sun, 2020. "The lasting impact of parental migration on children's education and health outcomes: The case of China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(9), pages 217-244.
    10. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    11. Ao, Xiang & Chen, Xuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2022. "Is care by grandparents or parents better for children's non-cognitive skills? Evidence on locus of control from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left-behind children and return migration in China," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Cadsby, C. Bram & Song, Fei & Yang, Xiaolan, 2020. "Are “left-behind” children really left behind? A lab-in-field experiment concerning the impact of rural/urban status and parental migration on children's other-regarding preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 715-728.
    14. Chunhai Gao & Endale Tadesse & Sabika Khalid, 2022. "Word of Mouth from Left-Behind Children in Rural China: Exploring Their Psychological, Academic and Physical Well-being During COVID-19," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(5), pages 1719-1740, October.
    15. Zai Liang & Zhongshan Yue & Yuanfei Li & Qiao Li & Aihua Zhou, 2020. "Choices or Constraints: Education of Migrant Children in Urban China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 671-690, August.
    16. Tang, Zequn & Wang, Ning, 2021. "School disruption of children in China: The influence of parents’ rural–urban migration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    17. Marchetta, Francesca & Sim, Sokcheng, 2021. "The effect of parental migration on the schooling of children left behind in rural Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    18. Newman, Anneke, 2019. "The influence of migration on the educational aspirations of young men in northern Senegal: Implications for policy," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 216-226.
    19. 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).
    20. Chikako Yamauchi, 2017. "Comment on “The Effect of Parental Absence on Child Development in Rural China”," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 135-136, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:266:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620305803. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.