Are non-left-behind children really not left behind? The impact of village migration on children’s health outcomes in rural China

ABSTRACT

With rapid urbanization and industrialization, a large number of rural residents have migrated to urban areas for work, increasing the proportion of migration in rural villages. Previous studies have typically examined the direct effect of parental migration, while we provide the first evidence for the spillover effects of village migration on the health outcomes of non-left-behind children. The results from an instrumental variable analysis show a sizable adverse effect of exposure to village migration on the health outcomes of non-left-behind children. We examine the role of unhealthy peers, poor parental health behaviours, poor village healthcare infrastructure, and unbalanced human capital structure at the village level.

KEYWORDS:

• Village migration
• health
• non-left-behind children
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ “Total labour force” refers to the entire population of those who are 16 years old or above and have the ability to work.

² Because village migration affects infrastructure, we do not include village infrastructure variables in the main regression analysis. These infrastructure variables are regarded as the bad controls.

³ “Exercise” refers to any moderately intensive physical activity that last over 20 minutes or a combination thereof.