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Left-behind children and return migration in China

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  • Sylvie Démurger

    (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Hui Xu

    (BNU - Beijing Normal University)

Abstract

This paper examines how left-behind children influence migration duration in China. We first present a simple illustrative model that incorporates economic and non-economic motives to migration duration. Using individual data from a survey carried out in Wuwei county (Anhui province) in 2008, we find that migrant parents of children in primary school tend to delay their return, a result we interpret as illustrating the need for migrant parents to accumulate money for their offspring's education. In contrast, parental time appears substitutable by coresiding grandparents who contribute to delay the parents' return, especially mothers, when they have children below the age of 12.

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  • Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left-behind children and return migration in China," Post-Print halshs-01179088, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01179088
    DOI: 10.1186/s40176-015-0035-x
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01179088
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    Cited by:

    1. Haiping Xu & Qunyong Jiang & Chuqiao Zhang & Shahzad Ahmad, 2023. "Left-behind experience and children’s multidimensional poverty: Evidence from rural China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(1), pages 199-225, February.
    2. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left‐Behind Children and Return Decisions of Rural Migrants in China," Post-Print halshs-01159072, HAL.
    3. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier B. & Giulietti, Corrado & Robalino, Juan D. & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2016. "Remittances and relative concerns in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 191-207.
    4. Xing, Chunbing & Sun, Yan, 2019. "Economic Opportunities and Gender Equity: The Migration and Education Decisions of Young Women from Rural China," IZA Discussion Papers 12311, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Démurger, Sylvie & Wang, Xiaoqian, 2016. "Remittances and expenditure patterns of the left behinds in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 177-190.
    6. Ren, Meiqing, 2024. "Preschool and child health: Evidence from China's universal child care reform," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Sihong Xiong & Ya Wu & Shihai Wu & Fang Chen & Jianzhong Yan, 2020. "Determinants of migration decision-making for rural households: a case study in Chongqing, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(2), pages 1623-1639, November.
    8. Connelly, Rachel & Maurer-Fazio, Margaret, 2016. "Left behind, at-risk, and vulnerable elders in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 140-153.
    9. Qing Wang & Ting Ren & Ti Liu, 2019. "Training, skill-upgrading and settlement intention of migrants: Evidence from China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(13), pages 2779-2801, October.
    10. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    11. Ye Ye & Rosmini Omar & Binyao Ning & Hiram Ting, 2020. "Intergenerational Transmission of Occupation: A Qualitative Inquiry into Frontline Factory Workers in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    12. Wang, Chunchao & Zhang, Chenglei & Ni, Jinlan & Zhang, Haifeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2019. "Family migration in China: Do migrant children affect parental settlement intention?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 416-428.
    13. Anas, Yulia & Alisjahbana, Armida & Purnagunawan, Rd. M. & Fahmi, Mohamad, 2022. "The Effect of Parental Internal Migration on Children’s Education: Evidence from Indonesia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(2), pages 115-127.
    14. Yang, Guanyi & Bansak, Cynthia, 2020. "Does wealth matter? An assessment of China's rural-urban migration on the education of left-behind children," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    15. Minmin Li & Ni Zhu & Lingxia Zeng & Duolao Wang & Shaonong Dang & Victoria Watson & Tao Chen & Zhongqiu Hua & Zhaoqing Li & Yijun Kang & Hong Yan & Chao Li, 2020. "Effect of Parental Migration on the Intellectual and Physical Development of Early School-Aged Children in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-10, January.
    16. Bai, Y. & Wang, W. & Zhang, L., 2018. "How long do returning migrants stay in their home county: Evidence from rural China during 1998 to 2015," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277380, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Li, Xueying & Zhang, Lei, 2023. "Educational opportunity and children's migration: Evidence from China's Gaokao reform for children of migrant families," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 1162-1185.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Return migration; Left-behind children; Discrete-time duration analysis; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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