China’s Left-Behind Children: Caretaking, Parenting, and Struggles

One unintended consequence of the unprecedented rural-to-urban migration in China over the past three decades is the exponentially increased number of ＂left-behind＂ children--children whose parents migrated to more developed areas and who live with one parent or other extended family members. The daily lives of these children, including their caretaking arrangements, parent-child bonding and communication, and schooling, are fraught with distractions and uncertainties. Paying special attention to this marginalized group, this book investigates the role of parental migration and the left-behind status in shaping Chinese family dynamics and children’s general wellbeing, including their school performance, delinquency, resilience, feelings of ambiguous loss, and other psychological problems. Blending theory, empirical research, and real-world interviews with left-behind children, China’s Left-Behind Children provides a uniquely close look at these children’s lives while also providing the larger national context that defines and shapes their everyday lives.

XIAOJIN CHEN is an associate professor of sociology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.