The psychological and behavioral outcomes of migrant and left-behind children in China

With China's urbanization and its development in market economy, mass rural-to-urban migration greatly expanded over the past decades. Consequently, migrant and left-behind children have greatly increased in number. Using data from the 2011 Survey on Social Integration of Migrant Children in Wuhan, China, this study examined psychological and behavioral problems of migrant and left-behind children. Results showed that left-behind and migrant children had poorer psychological and behavioral outcomes than local children. However, the difference disappeared after controlling for family and school characteristics. The findings provided implications on improving psychological and behavioral outcomes of migrant and left-behind children through family intervention and education policy reform.