The Effect of Parental Migration on the Educational Attainment of Their Left-Behind Children in Rural China

About 60 million children under the age of 18 are left behind by their parents in rural China. This paper studies the effect of migrant parents on the educational attainment of their left-behind children in rural China. A theoretical model of optimal schooling in the context of parental migration is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:B.E. journal of economic analysis and policy (Online) 2014-07, Vol.14 (3), p.1037-1080
Main Author: Wang, Sophie Xuefei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
children
Children & youth
China
education
Educational attainment
Enrollments
internal migration
Level of education
Migration
Parents & parenting
Rural areas
rural China
school enrollment
Studies
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Summary:About 60 million children under the age of 18 are left behind by their parents in rural China. This paper studies the effect of migrant parents on the educational attainment of their left-behind children in rural China. A theoretical model of optimal schooling in the context of parental migration is proposed. Then, reduced-form equations are estimated using probit model, instrumental variables probit model, and linear instrumental variables model. Results show that parental migration has a negative effect on children’s school enrollment. This negative effect is significant and sizable on the school enrollment of boys, but insignificant on the school enrollment of girls. The most important source of this robust negative effect on boys is the absence of fathers. Results suggest that left-behind mothers or relatives cannot fulfill fathers’ role successfully in disciplining boys and help with their educational needs.
ISSN:2194-6108
1935-1682
DOI:10.1515/bejeap-2013-0067