WHO HAD TO LEAVE THEIR CHILDREN BEHIND? EVIDENCE FROM A MIGRANT SURVEY IN SHANGHAI

Abstract

Many studies have confirmed that the separation of parents and children has a negative impact on children's growth. Although compulsory-education barriers for migrants' children have gradually disappeared in China, many families who migrate to cities have to leave their school-age children in their hometown. In this paper, using a logit model, we investigate which factors influence school-residential choice for migrants' children. The latest migration survey, Shanghai's 2011 Floating Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey, which contains data on 23, 517 migrant families, is used. We obtain two major findings. First, higher levels of household income and parents' education increase the probability of migrants' children receiving their education in the city. Our second finding, which has more policy implications, is that noncompulsory-education barriers still prevent many migrants' children from moving to the city.