Children of Migrants: The Impact of Parental Migration on their Children's Education and Health Outcomes

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24730239
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economic policy
• Research Institution: National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
• Principal Investigator: YAMAUCHI Chikako 政策研究大学院大学, 政策研究科, 助教授 (50583374)
• Research Collaborator: MENG Xin オーストラリア国立大学, 経済学研究科, 教授
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 移民 / 中国 / 人的資本 / 教育 / 健康

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study has investigated how rural-to-urban migration in China affected the health status and learning of the children of migrants. While cheap labor from the rural area has been supporting the country's rapid economic growth, there has been a concern about possible worsening of those outcomes among children left behind in the rural area. Based on our original panel data, we have empirically shown that children whose fathers were away from home for a longer time in the children's lifetime tend to be shorter, lighter and attain lower test scores. These children are also shown to spend less time on studying outside school. They are less likely to attend private tutoring and more likely to repeat grade as well. The results of the study have been widely disseminated through domestic and international conferences.

Free Research Field

開発経済学