Not a Zero-Sum Game: China’s Internal Migration and the Wellbeing of Rural-origin Children

Two-fifths of the 279 million children in China are directly affected by the on-going massive internal migration. Using data from a nationally representative survey covering junior high school students in both rural and urban areas, we examine the causal impacts of different migration processes (parental migration, child migration, and hukou conversion) on rural children’s wellbeing measured by cognitive abilities, school engagement, school attachment, health, educational aspirations, and confidence about the future. Results from propensity score matching analysis show that migration brings both benefits and costs to children. Bringing rural children to cities significantly improved their school performance and physical health on the one hand, but also reduced their educational aspirations and increased their anxiety towards the future on the other hand. Leaving children behind in the countryside, while avoiding potential social exclusions in cities, results in a negative impact on their physical and mental health. Gaining local urban hukou status can improve rural-origin children’s academic achievement to some extent, but has no effect on the other wellbeing indicators. These results reveal that the migration process per se and China’s unique hukou system have generated both opportunities and challenges for children involved. China’s Internal Migration and the Wellbeing of Rural-origin Children 3