Academic Achievement and Loneliness of Migrant Children in China: School Segregation and Segmented Assimilation

Heterogeneous effects of return migration on children's mental health and cognitive outcomes

As a neglected group, the number of return migrant children is growing with China's monumental volume of labor migration. Using data from 2013 to 2014 China Education Panel Survey, this study examines heterogeneous effects of return migration on children's mental health and cognitive outcomes. Our results show that the effects of return migration on children vary with the propensity for return migration. More importantly, when children are at risk of return migration, even if that risk is small, it already has a negative impact on children's mental health, which reminds us that it needs to take a dynamic view to study the impact of return migration on children. However, the impact of return migration is not all negative, and the findings suggest that return migration can promote the cognitive development of urban-origin migrant children. A striking regional difference emerges from our analysis: due to urban-rural gap, the impact of return migration on children from urban and rural areas is different. Specifically, return migration has a positive effect on the cognitive development of urban-origin migrant children while return migration does some harm to that of rural-origin migrant children, which implies that return migration may widen the gap between urban and rural children.

Elevated levels of loneliness in migrant children compared to nonmigrant children in urban China: a systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative studies

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

About one in four children in China is a migrant child. This population has a higher risk of experiencing loneliness. However, existing studies present conflicting findings regarding the levels of loneliness among migrant children as compared to local urban children in urban China. This review performs a meta-analysis of studies comparing loneliness levels between these two groups.

RECENT FINDINGS

A literature search of major Chinese- and English-language databases revealed 27 eligible comparative studies. These studies reported the means and standardized deviations of loneliness scores for both migrant and nonmigrant children in urban China. Meta-analysis results showed that migrant children experienced significantly higher levels of loneliness than their urban nonmigrant counterparts [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.21, P  < 0.001]. Subgroup analysis revealed that studies enrolling migrant children from migrant children's schools had significantly higher pooled SMDs than those enrolling children from public schools (0.346 vs. 0.120, P  = 0.047).

SUMMARY

Migrant children in urban China experience higher levels of loneliness compared to their local urban peers. Efforts to create a socially inclusive, migrant-friendly environment and reduce social isolation among migrant children are crucial to help alleviate their feelings of loneliness.

Moving together or left behind? An examination of rural migrant working mothers' childcare strategies in the cities

BACKGROUND

In China, an increasing number of rural mothers participate in urban labour markets, but little is known about their decisions regarding childcare while living in these cities. Why do some rural mothers migrate to the cities with their children, whereas others leave their children behind in the countryside?

METHODS

This study analysed 1852 samples from the 2016 China Migrant Dynamic Survey of rural migrant mothers collected in the Pearl River Delta (PRD). These mothers were registered with agricultural hukou outside of the PRD and had at least one child under 18 years of age.

RESULTS

The results indicated that 57.8% of these mothers migrated together with their children. Rural migrant mothers who were self-employed, had a higher level of household income on a log10 scale and had a longer duration of migration were more willing to adopt closely performing motherhood than rural migrant mothers who were not self-employed. Additionally, rural working mothers who were intra-provincial migrants and had a smaller number of children were more likely to bring their children to the cities than rural working mothers who were inter-provincial migrants.

CONCLUSIONS

This study works to strengthen the understanding of rural migrant working mothers' childcare strategies, provide insights for future policy studies and contribute to evidence-based recommendations for policymakers regarding internal rural-to-urban migration, migrant women and the wellbeing of the families of migrants.

Association of relative deprivation with loneliness and its underlying mechanisms: Evidence from Chinese migrant children

Given the increase in the number of internal migrant children, the mental health problems (e.g., loneliness) of this population have received widespread attention. Relative deprivation is considered to be related to migrant children’s loneliness. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear. Therefore, the present study tested the possible mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of belief in a just world in the association between relative deprivation and loneliness of migrant children. A total of 1,261 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children (10–15 years old, Mage = 12.34 years, SD = 1.67; 52.0% males, 48.0% females; 23.55% fourth grade students, 16.49% fifth grade students, 19.59% sixth grade students, 15.54% seventh grade students, 13.80% eighth grade students, and 10.86% ninth grade students) were recruited to complete measures of relative deprivation, self-esteem, belief in a just world, loneliness, and demographic variables. Relative deprivation was significantly and positively correlated with migrant children’s loneliness, and this connection could be mediated by self-esteem. Moreover, the first part of the indirect effect of self-esteem on this link was moderated by belief in a just world. These effects were stronger for migrant children with higher levels of belief in a just world. This study reveals the potential mechanisms of relative deprivation affecting loneliness, while also providing insights into how to better help migrant children alleviate loneliness and improve their mental health.

Community social capital, migration status, and Chinese rural children's psychosocial development

Migration's impact on Chinese rural children's psychosocial development is the subject of growing research attention. While scholars highlight the critical role of social support, they have yet to systematically examine whether and how community social capital, which provides proximal social support for families, affects rural children's psychosocial development as well as whether such associations vary by children's migration status. Using data from the child component of the 2012 Chinese Urbanization and Labor Migration Survey, this article shows that community social capital reduces children's behavioral and emotional problems; however, left-behind children and migrant children gain less from community social capital than children with at-home parents. In addition, left-behind girls fare worse and gain less from community social capital than left-behind boys. Together, these findings imply that community social capital reinforces the disadvantaged psychosocial development of rural children who experience parental migration and evidence the enduring gender inequality in rural China.

Educational Inequity and Skill Formation Differences Experienced by Floating Rural Students in the Process of Urbanization: A Case Study from a School Perspective

In the process of urbanization in China, the migrant worker population entering cities is an important force in building cities. The children of these migrant workers who do not have the qualifications to participate in college entrance examinations in the city generally become floating rural students. The education problem of the children of the migrant worker population entering the city is still insufficiently considered, and the education inequality and skill formation defects faced by floating rural students are worth paying attention to. This study selected P Middle School in Daxing District of Beijing as a case and took “input–process–output” as the thread to investigate and analyze the school’s source of students and enrollment situation, survival strategy and student graduation destination. It tried to present the original ecology of the school’s survival situation from the micro level and further interpret the education inequality and skill formation of floating rural students from the perspective of the school’s survival. Through the case study, we have found that the academic achievement of students in privately run schools for migrant workers’ children is not high. The level of teachers in these schools is low, and teacher turnover is high, resulting in a significant gap in the quality of education compared to public schools. The main source of funding for these schools is donations from members of the community, and government funding is inadequate. Floating rural students in privately run schools for migrant workers’ children have poor graduation destinations, with a low percentage of students going on to key high schools, and some students are forced to become returning children, facing institutional barriers to upward mobility through education. These aspects have led to education inequality and possible defects in the skill formation of floating rural students. We hope to clarify and grasp the actual situation of privately run schools for migrant workers’ children and put forward corresponding policy recommendations to help bridge the educational inequity in China.

Social Support and Loneliness among Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children: A Moderated Mediation Analysis of the Roles of Social Competence and Stress Mindset

Social support has been an important social-contextual protective factor against loneliness. However, how individual-level protective factors, such as social competence and a positive stress mindset, may jointly influence the relationship between social support and loneliness is less known. This study examined to what extent the link between social support and loneliness would be mediated by social competence and moderated by stress mindset among migrant children. In total, 198 rural-to-urban migrant children aged 10-14 years (56.1% girls) in Beijing, China, completed a set of self-reported questionnaires. A moderated mediation analysis was performed. We found that perceived social support was associated with a lower level of loneliness, and this association was significant only for migrant children holding a positive stress mindset (indicated by a high ratio of the stress-is-a-challenge mindset to the stress-is-a-threat mindset). Notably, across children with different stress mindsets, perceived social support was indirectly related to a lower level of loneliness through greater social competence. Our findings suggest that social competence and a stress-is-a-challenge mindset are important individual-level protective factors for migrant children to overcome loneliness. Social competence can carry the effect of social support, and a stress-is-a-challenge mindset can optimize the effect of environmental resources on mental health.

Examining the mediator and moderator of the link between Migration-Related stress and depression amongst Chinese migrant children

Migration-related stress is detrimental to children's mental health, yet little is known about the potential mechanisms behind this association. This study examines the mediating role of inflow city identity in the association between migration-related stress and depression and the moderating role of social participation amongst Chinese migrant children. A sample of 484 migrant children aged 8-17 years is randomly recruited through a cross-sectional survey in Kunming, China. Inflow city identity partially mediates the association between migration-related stress and migrant children's depression. Moreover, social participation moderates the above relationship. The direct and indirect effects are significant for migrant children with low social participation but insignificant for migrant children with high social participation. This study deepens the theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanism between migration stress and psychological distress and provides practical implications for preventing mental disorders in Chinese migrant children.

A Prospective Study on Resilience Among Children with Different Migrant and Left-behind Trajectories

Parental migration has been an important predictor of children's psychological resilience. The present study discusses the effect of parental migration on children's resilience in rural western China from a dynamic viewpoint. Using sequence analysis, this study investigates children's entire migration trajectory over the course of childhood (ages 1-12) and identifies the typical patterns of the dynamic family structure associated with parental migration: continuously nonmigrant (N = 4,238), continuously migrant (N = 923), continuously left behind by one parent (N = 872), continuously left behind by both parents (N = 796) and frequent transition between migrant or left-behind statuses (N = 1,624). The results show that the trajectories of left-behind status and transition have a significant negative impact on children's resilience, which demonstrates that both the effects of parent-child separation and family instability compromise children's psychological functioning. Family resources can buffer these negative effects, but they work asymmetrically across different groups of children. Family economic resources serve as a significant protective factor among children continuously left behind by both parents, while family social resources are more protective for children in unstable families.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-022-09945-1.

Parental Migration and Children's Psychological and Cognitive Development in China: Differences and Mediating Mechanisms

Internal migration has resulted in a large number of left-behind children in China. Despite growing attention to this population, important gaps remain in our understanding of their cognitive development and the factors that mediate the impact of migration on children. The present study draws on a new nationally representative survey of Chinese children to study the psychological and cognitive development of left-behind children. Results show that rural children left behind by both parents (but not by one parent) are worse off in both psychological well-being and cognitive development than rural children living with both parents. The disadvantage of left-behind children is mediated by their caregivers' emotional well-being, parenting practices, and education. We also find a pronounced rural-urban difference in children's cognitive development.

Family Arrangements and Children's Education Among Migrants: A Case Study of China

As China is experiencing an urban revolution with massive rural-to-urban migration, millions of children are profoundly affected by their parents' migration and their decision on family arrangement. With the discriminatory Hukou system and harsh living conditions in cities, the dilemma migrant parents face is whether they should bring children to cities or leave them behind. This decision determines the household, school and community environment children live in, which in turn shapes their wellbeing. With a unique strategy of comparing "left behind children" to "migrant children" and a gendered perspective, this paper examines how different family arrangements among migrants and consequent housing conditions and gender dynamics affect children's educational wellbeing. Our findings demonstrate the complex impact of family arrangement on children, which is conditioned on wage income and the gender of absent parent and the child. We find that children from less favorable socioeconomic backgrounds benefit more from moving to cities. Children living with both parents and those living with mother and grandparents tend to do better. While the effect of housing conditions is marginal, family arrangement has a gendered effect on children. Related policy recommendations are provided.

Migration status, emotional engagement, and social exclusion in Chinese schools

INTRODUCTION

Since migration has become one of the pressing issues of our time, the school engagement of migrant children in the destination cities has drawn increasing scholarly attention. While most existing studies have focused on the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of school engagement of migrant children compared to local children, the emotional dimension has received less scholarly attention. Using a large-scale, national representative, school-level longitudinal survey data conducted in 2014 in China, this study examined the effect of migration status on children's emotional engagement in school.

METHODS

This study was conducted with 15,872 Chinese junior high school students (mean age = 13.52, SD = 1.24) using ordered logistic regression. KHB mediation analysis was employed to explain migration-emotional engagement linkage.

RESULTS

Compared with urban local children, both rural and urban migrant children are less likely to feel closely connected to their peers in school and are more likely to feel bored and to express escapism. The KHB mediation analysis further suggests that compared with the number of friends and proportions of the same-school friends, the percentages of local friends at the same school mediate most of the effect of migration status on all three measures of emotional engagement, particularly for rural migrant children.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings revealed that although both social exclusion and the absence of friendship play statistically significant mediation roles, social exclusion is of vital importance in understanding the differences between migrant and local children in emotional engagement.

Economic Pressure and Loneliness in Migrant Children in China: The Mediating Roles of Parent-Child Communication and Parental Warmth

The purpose of the current study was to examine the mediating roles of parent-child communication and parental warmth in the relationship between economic pressure and loneliness in a sample of migrant children in China. A total of 437 participants were selected from two public schools for migrant children in Zhejiang Province, China. All participants were asked to complete four measures, including the Perceived Economic Strain Scale, the Parent-Child Communication Questionnaire, the Parental Warmth Scale, and the Children's Loneliness Scale. The results showed that economic pressure was positively and directly related to loneliness. Furthermore, parent-child communication and parental warmth partially mediated the relationship between economic pressure and loneliness in migrant children. Thus, parent-child communication and parental warmth play important roles in reducing the negative effect of economic pressure on loneliness in migrant children.

Migration and children's psychosocial development in China: When and why migration matters

Migration has affected a large number of children in many settings. Despite growing attention to these children, important gaps remain in our understanding of their psychosocial development, as well as the factors that mediate and moderate the impact of migration on children. The present study examines the influences of migration on children's psychosocial well-being in China using a new nationally representative survey. We compared different groups of children age 3-15, including migrant children, left-behind children, and rural and urban children in nonmigrant families. Results show that rural children left behind by both parents were significantly worse off in psychological and behavioral well-being than rural nonmigrant children. By contrast, rural children left behind by one parent and migrant children were no worse off. The disadvantage of left-behind children was mediated by their caregivers' emotional well-being and parenting practices. Frequent contact with migrant parents, but not receipt of remittances, helped ameliorate the vulnerability of left-behind children. These results add to our understanding of how migration affects child development in general.

Are procrastinators psychologically healthy? Association between psychosocial problems and procrastination among college students in Shanghai, China: a syndemic approach

Procrastination has been closely linked to psychosocial health problems, such as depression and anxiety, among college students. However, few studies have focused on the magnifying effects of multiple psychosocial health problems on procrastination. We conducted a cross-sectional study by convenience sampling among 509 college students in Shanghai, China. Logistic regressions were performed to assess the relationship between psychosocial variables and procrastination and to verify the syndemic effect of psychosocial factors. Univariate analyses revealed that self-esteem, depression, and loneliness were associated with procrastination. In multivariate analyses, self-esteem and depression remained significant. College students with four psychosocial problems were approximately 2.5 times more vulnerable to procrastination compared with non-syndemic (have no more than one problem) students. The study indicates that college students with more psychosocial health problems exhibit severer procrastination, which in turn suggests that psychosocial syndemic theory can be applied to procrastination.

Parental emotional warmth and identity integration among Chinese migrant adolescents: The role of hope

Literature has established that migration processes have significant effects on the mental and psychological health of migrant children and adolescents. Yet, little is known of the effects of family dynamics and individual characteristics on rural-to-urban migrant adolescents’ psychological adjustment in the context of China. Using a cross-sectional questionnaire-based research design, this article examines the relationship between perceived parental emotional warmth, identity integration and hope among a group of Chinese migrant adolescents. Of a sample of 1,345 Chinese migrant adolescents, between 11 and 19 years old, we found that perceived parental emotional warmth was significantly associated with identity integration, and that hope partially mediated the relationship between parental emotional warmth and identity integration. The implications of the findings for migrant adolescents’ psychological adjustment in receiving communities are discussed.

Migration, Family Arrangement, and Children's Health in China

With unprecedented migration taking place in China, millions of children are profoundly affected. Using a sample of 916 children (aged 5-18) of migrants and the life course perspective, this article examines the impact of parental migration on children's health. Results show that migration has a complex impact on children's health. Although migrating to cities itself does not benefit children, poor housing conditions in cities have a negative impact on their health. The timing of parental migration is important, as preschoolers migrating with parents and teenagers left behind by parents have significantly worse health than others. Migration also has a gendered effect, as teenage boys benefit from migrating to cities but suffer from being left behind when compared to teenage girls.

A Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey of Trachoma among Migrant School Aged Children in Shanghai, China

We investigated the prevalence of clinical trachoma in 154,265 children aged 6 to 16 years in 206 Shanghai migrant schools. Clean water availability in school, each child's facial cleanliness, eyelids, corneas, and the presenting distance visual acuities were examined. Trachoma was clinically diagnosed in accordance with the World Health Organization simplified classification. Eyes diagnosed with trachoma were swabbed to test for ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infections (OCTI) with a rapid latex immunochromatographic test. Among 153,977 students, no blindness was found related to trachoma. Trachoma was diagnosed in 8029 children (5.2%). In 87 schools clinical trachoma prevalence was higher than 5%. OCTI was confirmed in 2073 of 6823 trachoma diagnosed children (30.4%). Clinical trachoma prevalence was higher among females than males (p < 0.001), but gender comparison showed no statistical difference in the prevalence of OCTI (p = 0.077). Age and clinical trachoma (r = -0.014; p < 0.001) or OCTI (r = -0.026; p = 0.031) prevalence were negatively correlated. Clinical trachoma was different in different districts and counties (p < 0.001). Trachoma warrants close attention in Shanghai migrant children because the condition remains endemic in some schools.

A meta-analysis of the impacts of internal migration on child health outcomes in China

BACKGROUND

According to China's 2010 population census, 38.81 million children migrated from rural to urban areas in Mainland China, a phenomenon that has attracted much scholarly attention. Due to the lack of quantitative synthesis of migrant children's developmental outcomes, we undertook a meta-analysis to compare their developmental outcomes with those of their urban counterparts.

METHODS

We searched Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Australian Education Index, British Education Index, ERIC, ProQuest Education Journals, PsycINFO, Social Services Abstracts, Family & Society Studies Worldwide, Medline, Women's Studies International databases and the Chinese CNKI database to identify relevant studies. Studies reporting physical and mental health outcomes of migrant children as well as potential protective and risk factors of child developmental outcomes were included. We assessed study quality using a quality assessment checklist.

RESULTS

We selected 25 studies from a total of 1592. Our results reveal that migrant children in public schools present significantly greater mental health problems and lower well-being than their urban counterparts, while migrant children in migrant schools do not present significantly different outcomes. In addition, migrant children were found to be more likely to be exposed to physical health risks due to limited utilization of health services. The disadvantageous health outcomes of migrant children were found to be related to a series of individual and social factors, including academic performance, social relationships, and discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS

Migrant children are disadvantaged by the sociocultural circumstances in urban areas. Government should target them and provide appropriate support in order to improve their developmental status, which will have a positive impact on the stability and development of society.

Child Development in the Face of Rural-to-Urban Migration in China

In the last 30 years, China has undergone one of the largest rural-to-urban migrations in human history, with many children left behind because of parental migration. We present a meta-analytic review of empirical studies on Chinese children’s rural-to-urban migration and on rural children left behind because of parental migration. We examine how these events relate to children’s emotional, social, and academic developmental outcomes. We include publications in English and in Chinese to uncover and quantify a part of the research literature that has been inaccessible to most Western scholars in the field of child and family studies. Overall, both migrant children and children left behind by migrant parents in China show significantly less favorable functioning across domains than other Chinese children. It appears that, similar to processes found in other parts of the world, the experience of economic and acculturation stress as well as disrupted parent–child relations constitute a risk for nonoptimal child functioning in the Chinese context. Further, we found evidence for publication bias against studies showing less favorable development for migrant children and children left behind. We discuss the results in terms of challenges to Chinese society and to future empirical research on Chinese family life.

Population migration and children's school enrollments in China, 1990-2005

This paper examines the impact of migration on children's school enrollment by analyzing the micro-data from Chinese population censuses in 1990 and 2000 and mini-census in 2005. We match school-age children (7-14 years old) with their parents, and examine how migration status and parents' absence affect children's school enrollment in urban China. We also compare rural-urban migrant children with their peers in both origin counties and destination districts. Results show that migrant children are less likely to be enrolled in school than urban local children and that children of rural registration status are particularly disadvantaged in school enrollment over the whole examined period in urban China. Rural-urban migrant children fare significantly worse than non-migrant children in both origins and destinations and noticeably they are even less likely than left-behind children to be enrolled in school. The likelihood of being enrolled in school increases for rural-urban migrant children as they spend more time in destinations.

Social capital and the mental health of children in rural China with different experiences of parental migration

Children migrating to urban cities with their parents and children left behind in rural counties by their migrant parents are two vulnerable populations resulting from the rural-urban migration in mainland China. Some of these children even have mixed experiences of being left-behind and being migrants at different times. This study aimed to investigate how the various experiences of being left-behind, migrant, or both, might influence the mental health of children in the context of rural China. Moreover, it investigated how these effects might be mediated by the stock of social capital in their family and neighborhood. Data used in this study came from a questionnaire survey with a school-based multi-stage random sample of 701 children (aged 8-17 years) living in the rural counties of Guizhou province in 2013. The structural equation modeling results suggested that, compared to those rural children who lived with both parents and have never experienced migration or being left-behind, children who are currently left-behind, either with or without previous experience of being a migrant, appeared to exhibit higher levels of depression. However, children who had previously been left-behind, but lived with both parents at the time of study, tended to experience fewer depressive symptoms. Parental migration also influenced children's mental health through the mediating effects of family and community social capital. These research findings imply developing intervention and prevention programs tailored to different groups of children in rural China with a focus on fostering the growth of social capital using various strategies.