Parental migration, educational achievement, and mental health of junior high school students in rural China
Parental migration, educational achievement, and mental health of junior high school students in rural China
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DOI：
10.1016/j.chieco.2019.01.007
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发表时间：
2019-04-01
影响因子：
6.8
通讯作者：
Rozelle, Scott
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Chang, Fang;Jiang, Yuxi;Rozelle, Scott
中国的快速发展导致了前所未有的迁移率上升，因为越来越多的农村居民移居城市，以寻求更好的工作机会，帮助缓解家庭贫困。经济压力和结构性限制迫使许多农民工将子女留在农村，这导致了中国一个新的群体的出现和扩张：留守儿童(LBC)。本研究利用陕西省某地7495名儿童的数据(2012至2014年间进行的三次调查)，考察了父母迁移对LBC儿童的教育结果(特别是数学成绩)和心理健康(特别是焦虑)的影响。我们区分“双亲迁徙”、“单亲迁徙”、“只有父亲迁徙”和“只有母亲迁徙”。我们还探讨了对男性和女性LBC的影响。我们发现父母迁移对LBC的数学成绩没有显著影响。然而，在心理健康方面，我们的结果表明，留守女孩受到父母一方迁移的负面影响，特别是如果迁移的父母是父亲的话。研究结果表明，政策制定者可能没有必要设计特殊计划来总体上改善LBC的教育结果。然而，地方委员会、学校和家长应该特别关注单亲留守女孩，因为她们可能比同龄人更容易出现心理健康问题。
China's rapid development has led to an unprecedented increase in migration rates as an ever-growing number of rural residents migrate to urban areas to seek better job opportunities and help alleviate family poverty. Economic pressures and structural restrictions force many of these migrant workers to leave their children behind in their rural homes, which has led to the emergence and expansion of a new subpopulation in China: left-behind children (LBCs). This study examines the impacts of parental migration on the educational outcomes (specifically math achievement) and mental health (specifically anxiety) of LBCs using data covering 7495 children in a prefecture of Shaanxi Province (from three surveys conducted between 2012 and 2014). We distinguish between "both parents migrating," "one parent migrating," "only a father migrating," and "only a mother migrating." We also explore the impacts on male versus female LBCs. We find no significant impact of parental migration on the math achievement of LBCs. In terms of mental health, however, our results indicate that left-behind girls were negatively affected by one parent migrating, especially if the migrating parent was the father. The findings suggest that it may not be necessary for policy makers to design special programs to improve educational outcomes of LBCs in general. However, local committees, schools, and parents should pay particular attention to left-behind girls living with only one parent, as they may be more vulnerable to mental health problems than their peers.