Do Migrant Parents’ Income or Relationships With Their Left-Behind Children Compensate for Their Physical Absence?

Abstract

Parental migration from rural to cities in China is causing millions of children to be left behind or to live without parental care, support, and guidance, which violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This national phenomenon has consequences for the household registration system, known as the hukou system, which is meant to restrain internal migration. These consequences may result in economic and social imbalances. However, a noticeable number of children have been completely or partially left behind by their parents in villages, and as a result, their relationship with their parents and their academic attainment are weak. In particular, this study examines whether migrant parents can improve the academic performance of their Left-Behind Children (LBC) by strengthening their relationship with their children or by sending adequate remittances to the village household. Astonishingly, the structural equation model (SEM) results indicate that LBCs from both parents migrating households are the more privileged groups, although the study underlines that still, all LBC are disadvantaged compared to non-LBC.