Are Grandparents Better Caretakers? Parental Migration, Caretaking Arrangements, Children’s Self-Control, and Delinquency in Rural China

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of parental migration and alternative caretaking arrangements on children’s delinquency in rural China. Using data from the Parental Migration and Children’s Well-Being Survey, our results suggest that children’s delinquency is influenced by a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crime and delinquency 2019-07, Vol.65 (8), p.1123-1148
Main Authors: Chen, Xiaojin, Jiang, Xin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior problems
Caretakers
Childrearing practices
Children
Cultural resources
Extended family
Grandparents
Juvenile delinquency
Migration
Nuclear family
Parent-child relations
Parents & parenting
Rural areas
Rural communities
Self control
Well being
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Summary:The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of parental migration and alternative caretaking arrangements on children’s delinquency in rural China. Using data from the Parental Migration and Children’s Well-Being Survey, our results suggest that children’s delinquency is influenced by a dynamic interaction between caretaking arrangements and children’s self-control. More specifically, grandparenting appears to be an equivalent substitution for normative nuclear family parenting and has some advantage over caretaking by a remaining parent, especially for children with low self-control. These findings can serve as a starting point for a further conversation on the benefit of extended families and collective parenting, and on how to best use cultural resources in rural China under the constraint of parental migration and other structural barriers.
ISSN:0011-1287
1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128718788051