Lijun Chen | Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Dali Yang | University of Chicago
Qiang Ren | Peking University
October, 2015
Report on the State
of Children in China
Report on the State of
Children in China
Lijun Chen
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Dali Yang
University of Chicago
Qiang Ren
Peking University
Recommended Citation
Chen, L.J., Yang, D.L., & Ren, Q.
(2015). Report on the State of Children
in China. Chicago: Chapin Hall at the
University of Chicago
Contact
Lijun Chen, Ph.D.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
1313 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773.256.5140
Email: [email protected]
Report on the State
of Children in China
Lijun Chen
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Dali Yang
University of Chicago
Qiang Ren
Peking University
October, 2015
Acknowledgements
In preparing this report, we were fortunate to have received generous nancial support from the Joint Research Fund
(Award No. 2014-003 “State of the Child in China”), established by Chapin Hall and the University of Chicago to
support collaborative research between the two institutions. We thank the Institute of Social Survey at Peking University
for permitting us to use data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies. We also gratefully acknowledge nancial
support from the Confucius Institute at the University of Chicago.
We owe special thanks to Fred Wulczyn, senior research fellow at Chapin Hall, for his guidance and advice throughout
the whole project. Without his contribution we would not have been able to carry out this study. We would also like to
thank Yinxian Zhang and Yuanqi Wang for excellent research assistance with the data analysis and literature review.
We presented our preliminary ndings at the “Workshop on the State of China’s Children,” held at the University of
Chicago Center in Beijing in July 2015. We are indebted to the Center and its superb team for their assistance. We wish
to thank the participants of the workshop, especially Ming Wen (University of Utah), Zhixin Du (China Development
Research Foundation), and Danhua Lin (Beijing Normal University) for their insightful comments and fellowship.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
Signicance of the Study ........................................................................................................................................2
Multiple Contexts of Child Well-being ..................................................................................................................3
Data and Methodology ..........................................................................................................................................4
Overview ................................................................................................................................................................7
2. Laying the Groundwork: National Environment and Policy Context .........................................................................8
e urban rural divide and the hukou system ..........................................................................................................8
e urbanization drive, migrant population, and rural family structure ................................................................. 9
Family planning policy and family structure .........................................................................................................10
School consolidation and dwindling child population in rural areas .....................................................................11
3. Economic Well-being ...............................................................................................................................................12
4. Physical Health ........................................................................................................................................................15
5. Psychological and Social-Emotional Well-being ........................................................................................................19
6. Educational Achievement and Cognitive Development ............................................................................................23
7. Family and Community Contexts ............................................................................................................................29
8. Association of Family and Social Contexts with Child Development ........................................................................ 36
9. Conclusion and Policy Implications .........................................................................................................................43
References .....................................................................................................................................................................47
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1. Introduction
Significance of the Study
According to the 2010 China Population Census data, the country is home to 222.6 million children between the ages
of zero and 14, accounting for 16.6% of the total population in mainland China (National Bureau of Statistics of China,
2011). Since the early 1980s, the living conditions and environments of Chinese children have changed dramatically due
to rapid industrialization, massive urbanization, and a stringent family planning policy (see World Bank, 2015a).
On the one hand, with industrialization and economic development, the economic conditions and physical well-being
of Chinese children have generally improved. is is especially true for children in rural areas where tens of millions of
parents can earn extra income from industrial or service jobs other than agriculture (NWCCW, NBS, & UNICEF, 2014).
Meanwhile, China’s family planning policy that allows one child for each urban couple and at most two for a rural couple
has led to smaller family size. is has helped boost the economic resources and emotional cherishment for the single child
to the extent that they are treated by their families like “little emperors” (Rosenzweig & Zhang, 2009).
However, the unbalanced economic growth in recent decades has also posed serious challenges for the well-being of
children, especially those in rural areas. Four challenges especially stand out. First, economic disparity between rural and
urban areas has remained and even increased in this period. e urban per capita disposable income has been over three
times the rural per capita net income (National Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2011). In 2012, 128 million Chinese people,
mostly rural residents, were still living in poverty with an annual per capita income of less than 2,300 Yuan (equivalent to
1.6 USD per day) (China Academy of Sciences, 2012). e income gaps between urban and rural areas have contributed
to rural-urban disparities in child care and educational resources available to children. Second, multiple researchers
have identied various developmental decits for migrant children (Wang & Zou, 2010). Due to exclusionary policies
and practices against migrant laborers in many municipalities, children of migrant workers have diculty attending
local public schools and gaining access to other public services (Chan, 2009). e relatively meager income, poor living
conditions, and housing instability of most migrant laborers have also put their children at a disadvantage in comparison
to their urban counterparts.
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ird, exclusionary policies imposed in many urban areas have forced migrant laborers to leave their children behind in
rural homes. In 2010, there were 61 million children who were left behind in rural areas, 22 percent of all children in
China (NWCCW, NBS, & UNICEF, 2014). Previous research shows long periods of parental absence may adversely
aect the psychological, social, and cognitive development of children, leading to problems such as low self-esteem,
depression, and lack of motivation at school, among others (Wen & Lin, 2012; Xiang, 2007). Without proper adult
supervision, left-behind children are also more likely to be victimized (Chen, Huang, Rozelle, Shi, & Zhang, 2009).
Fourth, other government policies and practices in some rural regions – particularly the consolidation of rural schools –
have exacerbated the plight of many rural children. is policy is blamed for the fact that children living in remote areas
have diculties accessing education.
e conditions of Chinese children, especially left-behind children and migrant children, have caused great concern
among government administrators and the general public. ere have been plenty of journalistic reports on the plight
of rural children. In addition to media coverage, many organizations and scholars, both in China and abroad, have
conducted academic studies and research on the socioeconomic conditions of children in China and their developmental
outcomes. ey have also made policy recommendations to address the developmental disparities between rural and
urban areas and improve the well-being of children (Xiang, 2007; All-China Women’s Federation, 2013; New Citizen
Program, 2014; Zou, Qu, & Zhang, 2005).
Despite the many studies of the situation of children in China, most of them are focused on a limited number of aspects
of child development without providing a full picture of children’s conditions. For instance, in terms of child well-
being, ocial government reports only present limited indicators, such as infant mortality, physical health, and school
enrollment, while social-emotional well-being indicators and other subjective well-being indicators – such as self-esteem
and sense of happiness – are absent. Besides, most studies on child well-being are based on non-representative samples
drawn only from a few regions and certain age groups. erefore, their ndings cannot be generalized to the whole child
population at a national level.
Our study, which is based on nationally representative household survey data, strives to oer a comprehensive view of
the conditions of today’s children in China. In this report, we cover all major domains of child development, including
children’s physical health, mental and psychological well-being, social well-being, and their cognitive and educational
development. Our report focuses on examining the developmental disparities between children of rural and urban
regions and between children who have dierent living arrangements (for instance, between left-behind children and
migrant children). We also strive to reveal variations in the ecological contexts of these children (i.e., the dierent
conditions of their families and communities that may have contributed to their dierent developmental trajectories).
Hopefully our eorts will help identify the most vulnerable groups of children in China and their developmental decits.
Our eorts to nd the risk and protective factors in these children’s social contexts may also help government agencies
and other stakeholders to formulate and implement targeted policies and programs to promote child well-being.
Multiple Contexts of Child Well-being
Scientic research in child development has long recognized the importance of living environments and nurturing
relationships for the healthy development of children (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Shonko & Phillips, 2000). Early childhood
experiences in multiple contexts – such as families, peer groups, schools, and communities – will have a profound long-
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term impact on children’s development and well-being. Typically, children spend most of their infancy and toddlerhood
with parents and other caregivers at home. erefore, aside from economic resources of the family, a nurturing relationship
with caregivers and a cognitively stimulating home environment are essential to children’s social and cognitive development
(Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010). Child care institutions and schools are also major venues where children learn
important social and emotional skills as well as academic knowledge (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schelling,
2011; Reynolds, Temple, & Ou, 2011). ese skills formed in the school years are essential for children to become
constructive members of society when they grow up. One last major social context in which children learn to interact is the
neighborhood. Neighborhood social norms, collective ecacy, safety, poverty level, and access to social service facilities are
all important to the well-being of children and their caregivers alike (Sampson, 2003).
Given the close relationship between living environment and well-being, children of lower socioeconomic status often
face multiple disadvantages. Without eective policy interventions, the toxic environments of these vulnerable children
will have a serious impact on their short-term development and long-term well-being. erefore, this study aims to
understand various aspects of social contexts, such as family functioning and community quality, that may contribute to
the developmental decits of vulnerable children in China. We pay special attention to the rural-urban disparities in child
well-being, describing the developmental decits of rural children, especially left-behind and migrant children, in contrast
to their urban counterparts. We also examine the family and social contexts of the children to reveal various factors that may
have contributed to the rural-urban disparities of child well-being.
Data and Methodology
is study is based on the 2010 baseline wave of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Designed and administered by
Peking University, CFPS is a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of nearly 15,000 families.
1
It adopts a
stratied three-stage cluster sample design where over 600 urban and rural communities are selected. From each community,
25 households are chosen at random (see Xie, Qiu, & Lu, 2012). Data are collected for all sample communities and all
members of sample households, including family members who are migrant workers. e 2010 CFPS has complete data for
8,990 children between the ages of zero and 15 years old, including caregiver reports for all children and direct interviews
with children between 10 and 15 years old. Information collected includes outcomes on major domains of child well-being
such as physical health, social-emotional development, cognitive development, and educational achievement. Contextual
information includes family living conditions, poverty level, parent education and employment, parenting behavior,
community contexts, and other areas. e wealth of information on children provides us with the opportunity to achieve a
comprehensive understanding of the development and well-being of the children in China.
Due to the complex sampling design and oversampling of children in some strata, the 2010 CFPS data introduce
a population weight variable that accounts for sampling design, nonresponse, and post-stratication adjustment
(Lu & Xie, 2013). In order to depict an unbiased and accurate picture of the conditions of children in China,
we decided to use the survey data analysis methods that take into account the survey design eect and unequal
population weights. e statistical analysis software we used is Stata/SE 12, and we applied Stata’s survey data
analysis commands in all of our analysis (Stata Corp, 2013).
1 Six provinces, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet, are not included in the sample for various reasons. Four of the
regions are in remote border regions and Hainan is a small island province located in the South China Seas. Together they make up only 5 percent
of the total population in China.
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We conducted univariate and bivariate analysis to examine the child well-being outcomes in dierent social and familial
contexts and analyze the associations between them. We also adopted multiple linear and logistic regression methods to
understand the unique contribution of demographic and contextual factors to child well-being outcomes.
e basic demographic information of the sampled children grouped by urban and rural community type is shown in
Table 1.1. e grouping of communities as rural or urban is based on whether the sampled community is reported by
the village administrator as a Village Committee (
村委会) or Urban Resident Committee (居委会). As shown in the
table, 27 percent of the sampled children are living in urban communities. Our estimate of the urban population is
conservative compared to the estimate of the National Bureau of Statistics, which, based on dierent criteria, identies
half of the population as urban. Our estimate is more in line with the residence registration (hukou) status of the children
since it captures most of the 24 percent of children with urban hukou but excludes most children with rural hukou.
Based on their family structure, number of parents living at home, and community type, we further categorized the
sample children into ve groups: children in rural intact families (with both parents married and at home), urban intact
families (with both parents married and at home), children left behind by one or both parents (both parents married
but only one or no parent at home), migrant children without local hukou (both parents married), and single-parent or
no-parent children (parents divorced, or one or both parents died or unknown). As shown in Table 1.1, 67 percent of
all children live in intact families with both parents married and living together with the child. e left-behind children
are concentrated in rural communities because their father or mother (or both) have left home to work in urban areas.
ey number over 49 million, or 21 percent of all children in China.
2
Migrant children are those whose hukou is not
within the local county or district where they currently live with their parents. ey are called migrant children because,
most probably, their parents have migrated to the current community in search of jobs and brought the children along.
Our analysis indicates that over 16 million children are those who have migrated to new communities with their parents,
nearly 7 percent of all children.
3
While 60 percent of the migrant children live in urban areas, the remaining migrant
children live in rural communities. e last group of children (about 5%) is single- or no-parent children because one or
both parents have died or their parents are divorced and no longer living with the children. Nearly two-thirds of these
children live in rural areas.
2 According to the report by National Bureau of Statistics of China(2105), the 2010 Census identies 69.73 million children aged zero to 17 as left-
behind children, taking up nearly 25% of the child population in China. If we count in the children from single/no parent families whose parents
have migrated to work, our estimate is similar to the census report.
3 e 2010 Census data indicates that the total number of migrant children zero to17 years old numbered 35.81 million, about 12 percent of the
total child population(see Duan, Lu, Wang, & Guo,2013). If we exclude about 38 percent of the children that migrate within a county/district
and exclude the children who are 16 or older, the total number of migrants will be nearly 17 million, which is similar to our estimate based on the
CFPS data. Since the CFPS data we can access does not provide information on within-count migration, we cannot identify children who have
migrated within counties/districts.
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Table 1.1 Characteristics of Children in Rural and Urban Areas in China
Rural Urban Total
Characteristic % n % n % N
All children 73.1 6,795 26.9 2,195 100 8,990
Child age
0 to 5 37.0 2,526 34.1 817 36.2 3,343
5 to 10
31.2
2,068 31.8 681 31.4 2,749
10 to 15
31.8
2,201 34.1 697 32.4 2,898
Gender *
Female
45.1
3,189 47.4 1,049 45.7 4,238
Male
54.9
3,606 52.6 1,146 54.3 4,752
Ethnicity *
Ethnic minority 19.1 940 9.9 188 16.6 1,128
Han ethnicity 80.9 5,855 90.1 2,007 83.4 7,862
Hukou Registration *
Urban hukou 7.6 584 69.0 1,533 24.1 2,117
Rural hukou 92.4 6,211 30.9 662 75.9 6,873
# of Parents at Home *
None 15.0 1,001 7.9 174 13.1 1,175
1 parent 15.5 1,126 12.7 268 14.8 1,394
2 parents 69.5 4,668 79.4 1,753 72.1 6,421
Residence Type *
Rural intact family 67.1 4,494 0.0 0 49.0 4,494
Urban intact family 0.0 0 66.6 1,463 17.9 1,463
Left-behind children 24.8 1,744 12.0 265 21.4 2,009
Migrant children 3.7 273 15.4 344 6.8 617
Single/No parent family 4.4 284 6.0 123 4.8 407
Total 100.0 6,795 100.0 2,195 100.0 8,990
Note: 2010 CFPS child sample N=8,990. Percentages are weighted; counts are unweighted.
* p < .05 based on designed-based Pearson chi square statistic.
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Overview
Including this introductory section, this report has nine sections. In Section 2, we provide a general overview of the
national environment and policy context for the development and well-being of the children. We describe the hukou
system, the urbanization process, the family planning policy, and school consolidation, and discuss their implications for
child well-being. Sections 3 through 6 address dierent domains of child well-being outcomes in rural and urban areas
and by residence type. Section 3 covers the economic well-being of children in China, including family poverty level and
living conditions. Section 4 describes the children’s physical health, including incidences of low birth weight, sickness and
hospitalization, and overweight and obesity. In Section 5, we address the psychological and social well-being of children,
such as sense of happiness, depression, self-esteem, social skills, and number of good friends. Section 6 analyzes children’s
cognitive development and educational outcomes. We examine the proportion of children in kindergarten and schools
in rural and urban areas as well as their study performance, vocabulary and math test scores, and school satisfaction.
Section 7 examines the family and community contexts of children, including family structure, parenting behavior,
and community resources. In Section 8, we detail a series of multiple regression models we ran to estimate the eects of
dierent aspects of family and social contexts on child development. Section 9 summarizes our ndings and points out
their major policy implications for promoting the welfare of children in China.
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2. Laying the Groundwork:
National Environment and
Policy Context
ough child well-being and development is a universal concern, each country faces unique challenges, including those
presented by the cultural and political context. In China, the most inuential contexts are the hukou system and the
country’s controversial family planning policies. ese institutions have posed specic challenges to child development in
China, as we describe below.
The urban rural divide and the hukou system
Established in the late 1950s during the heyday of central planning policy, thehukousystem is the Chinese household
registration system that categorizes an individual resident as a “non-agricultural resident” (居民) in an urban area or an
“agricultural resident” (农民) in a rural area. Hukou ties people’s access to public services and welfare such as education,
employment, and healthcare to their residential status, leading to an entrenchment between rural and urban residents
(Chan & Zhang, 1999; Wang, 2005, 2010). Urban residents are entitled to a range of social, economic, and cultural
benets that rural residents cannot receive, creating an underclass for rural residents. is has led to high income
inequality between rural and urban residents and posed great barriers for residential and social mobility of rural residents.
e hukou-based governance system has largely limited rural migrant workers’ access to services and welfare in urban
areas, including education, health care, pensions, and life insurance. While they can move freely to seek jobs, they
cannot settle down with full urban resident status, full rights as citizens, and unlimited access to public services and
social welfare services. eir children are denied access to urban public schools, and oftentimes have to be left behind
in the countryside. Even in urban areas where migrants outnumber local residents and contribute tremendously to local
economic growth, the distribution of public resources is only intended for local hukou residents (Xiang, 2007).
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As a response to the increasing social problems, the hukou system has been gradually reformed since the 1990s.
“Temporary urban residency permits” for migrant workers to work legally in cities were launched in the 1990s. Since
2001, reform measures by various local governments have further weakened the system due to the overwhelming number
of rural residents working in cities and their contribution to urban economy. But these reforms have not fundamentally
changed the system. Hukou continues to contribute to China’s rural and urban disparity (Chan & Buckingham,
2008). On December 4, 2014, the Legal Aairs Oce of theState Councilreleased a draft residence permit regulation
intending to abolish the hukou system in small cities and towns. e implementation is ongoing and the eect of this
latest policy remains to be seen.
The urbanization drive, migrant population, and rural family structure
Despite the rural-urban divide created by the hukou system, China experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization
in the last two decades. According to the NBS, by the end of 2013, 53.7 percent of the total population lived in
urban areas, up from 26 percent in 1990. e massive transfer of rural workforce from countryside to cities has greatly
contributed to this dramatic jump (Ren, 2013).
4
However, due to the hukou barriers discussed above, few of the
migrants can obtain permanent urban citizenship that oers benets of, for instance, government-provided housing and
children’s education (Chan & Buckingham, 2008). Besides institutional discrimination, in cities there is also cultural
and individual discriminationagainst people with ruralhukou (Jin, Wen, Fan, & Wang, 2012). erefore, most migrant
workers and their families can hardly settle down in cities. According to the NBS, there were 168 million rural-urban
migrant workers by the end of 2014. Around 130 million workers migrated alone and only 35 million migrated with
families (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2015); women and children are often left behind in the countryside,
leading to the prevalent split households in rural areas (Guo & Huang, 2014; Ma, Xu, Qiu, & Bai, 2011; Ye, Wang, Wu,
He, & Liu, 2013; Zhang & Zeng, 2013).
Given this context, the children of migrant workers have been largely disadvantaged, whether they are migrant children
in urban cities or children left behind in rural areas. According to the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF, 2013),
by the end of 2010, there were around 35.8 million rural-to-urban migrant children between ages zero and 17. ey are
faced with many institutional and cultural barriers to living in their new homes, most important being limited access to
education. In general, migrant children face formidable barriers to enrolling in local public schools (Pong, 2014). With
a few exceptions, migrant children can be admitted to local schools as long as they pay extra fees, which most migrant
families cannot aord. Even if migrant children can aord an urban school, they have to return to their hukou registered
place to take the entrance examination for a higher level of education. However, what children have learned in their
schools may be substantially dierent from what is taught and tested in the hukou residence, making it dicult to enroll
in a higher level of education (Ding, 2012; Xiang, 2007). Aside from educational barriers, migrant children also suer
from other problems, including emotional diculties such as low self-esteem and loneliness, behavioral problems such as
smoking and drinking, and physical health problems such as a higher prevalence of infectious diseases (Hu, Fang, & Lin,
2009; Luo, 2005; Zhang, Qin, & Wu, 2010).
Children who are left behind in rural areas also encounter many challenges. According to the All-China Women’s
Federation (2013), there were more than 61 million rural left-behind children in China at the end of 2010, 21.88
4 Besides the inux of immigrants, the en mass reclassication of many rural areas surrounding central cities and many rural towns as surban has also
raised the percentage of urban population (see Ren, 2013 for details).
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percent of the total population of children. Unlike migrant children, the biggest challenge faced by left-behind children
is the absence of parents. As reported by the ACWF, 46.74 percent of the left-behind children are left behind by both
parents, of which 32.67 percent are living with grandparents, 10.7 percent are living with other people (relatives or
friends of their parents), and 3.37 percent are living on their own. While the money that migrant workers sent home may
increase household income, migration has led to a lack of parental support and supervision of children’s development.
Grandparents, as primary guardians, usually have low literacy skills and limited energy to educate and take care of
children. As a result, left-behind children are susceptible to subpar educational achievement, increased risky behaviors,
psychological diculties, physical safety problems, human tracking, sexual harassment, and other types of abuse (Chen,
et al., 2009; Pan, 2014; Zheng and Wu, 2014). However, there is also competing evidence indicating that parents’
migration is not necessarily detrimental to child welfare and development, mainly due to return transfers of income and
parents’ recognition of the importance of education after migrating to urban cities (Ren & Treiman, 2013; Wen & Lin,
2012; Fan, Su, Gill, & Birmaher, 2010). Simply put, parental migration has been an important factor in child welfare
and development of rural families for both left-behind and migrant children.
Family planning policy and family structure
In addition to internal migration, family planning policies in China have also had major inuence on child development.
Numerous studies have documented the eect of family structure and parenting style on child development. According to
Becker (1981), there is a strong negative correlation between the quantity of children and quality of their lives, indicating
that lower fertility may encourage people to increase their investments in children, including providing better education,
more parenting time, and more emotional and nancial supports. e impact of the controversial family planning policy,
also known as the “one-child policy,” on child development has been intensely debated over the last two decades. On one
hand, academic ndings support the positive eect of the quantity-quality tradeo brought about by the one-child policy
(Rosenzweig & Zhang, 2009). It is good for child well-being in terms of greater parental investment and more available
resources for children. On the other hand, single children in a family may be spoiled by parents who focus all their love
and money on them. Prior research has studied the psychological consequences experienced by children without siblings.
Despite mixed conclusions, there is evidence that single children tend to be self-centered, less independent, and less sociable.
As a result, they have been called “little emperors” in China (Liu, Wang, Yin, & Gu, 1988).
A more serious eect of the one-child policy is the change of the sex ratio at birth (SRB). According to the NBS
data, SRB in China peaked at 1.20 in 2008, indicating 120 newborn boys for every 100 newborn girls. At the end of
2014, the SRB is 1.16. Selective abortion of female fetuses prompted by the one-child policy has led to great gender
imbalance and a high surplus of men. is ratio is higher in rural areas where preference for boys is stronger and fetal
gender screening devices are easily accessible (Festini & de Martino, 2004). In urban areas, however, studies suggest that
daughters have beneted from the one-child policy: they have enjoyed unprecedented parental support because they do
not have to compete with brothers for parental investment (Fong, 2002).
e family planning policy that has been implemented for over three decades has led to the gradual decline of the
child population in both urban and rural areas. e dwindling number of school-aged children has triggered school
consolidation practices in many areas, with inadvertent consequences for child well-being, as we discuss next.
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School consolidation and dwindling child population in rural areas
Besides the persistent challenges posed by migration and family planning policies, there has been a special challenge to
child well-being due to an educational policy change that began in the early 2000s: the launch in 2001 of “Adjustment
on the Layout of Rural Schools,” also called “rural school closures and consolidations.” is campaign aimed to close
a large portion of village primary schools and expand “central” schools located in townships and county seats. e
campaign was stopped in 2012 due to its controversial eects on child education.
e policy was formulated in response to the sharp decline of the school-age population in rural areas caused by the
one-child policy and rural-urban migration (Lei, 2010; Wan, 2009). e government also wanted to improve education
quality and equity by reallocating and centralizing education resources from failing village schools to “central schools”
(Fang & Liu, 2013; Xu, 2013). e direct outcomes of this policy were remarkable. In 2000, there were 440,000 rural
primary schools in China. Ten years later, this number had decreased to 230,000 – a decrease of over 50 percent (21st
Century Education Institute, 2013). On the positive side, the school consolidation policy may have partially achieved
its goals. It may have boosted educational eciency through economies of scale (Fan & Guo, 2009; Li, Zeng, & Yang,
2012) and improved education quality and promoted regional equity (Fang & Liu, 2013; Ma, Lu & Li, 2011). However,
school consolidation policy has also been attacked due to its adverse eect on rural children’s development.
ere are many examples of this adverse eect. First and foremost, education has become less accessible to students
living in remote areas, leading to increased dropout rates of rural students. Many studies reported that school relocation
strikingly increased the distance between students in remote areas and central schools in townships, leading to higher
transportation costs and higher safety risks (Chu & Zhang, 2012; Ke, Xu, & Zhang, 2015; Yi et al., 2012). Researchers
also argue that the policy has exacerbated the polarization between remote villages in the county periphery and urban
areas in the county core, increasing the potential for greater regional disparities. us, the claimed policy goal of
promoting equity in education was not achieved (Cai & Kong, 2014; Fan & Hao, 2011; Xu, 2013). To address the
problem, the Chinese government launched the “no tuition and no fee” national policy and also required central schools
to provide school shuttle services. However, the eect on school enrollment has been minimal (Xu, 2013).
National policy has also encouraged the construction of boarding schools in response to increasing distances between
school and home. However, due to a shortage of funding and human resources, many boarding schools in rural areas
suer from unsanitary and overcrowded living conditions. Besides, young children living far away from intimate
family members often suer from psychological problems due to the lack of family supervision and parental emotional
support (Cui, 2012). Taken together, unqualied boarding schools have detrimental eects on students’ physical and
psychological health and pose high risks in food and living safety for students (Chu & Zhang, 2012; Wan, 2009). In
addition, school consolidation has also led to giant classes in central schools with inadequate teachers and facilities, which
is detrimental to education quality (Fang & Liu, 2013; Tao & Lu, 2011).
Opponents of this policy also claimed that this campaign has caused a cultural crisis in rural communities. e closure
of village schools makes fragile village culture more vulnerable, leaving villages to suer further poverty and other types
of decline (Xiong, 2009; Zhao & Wu, 2015). Overall, the school consolidation policy has presented special challenges to
child well-being and development in the countryside, especially in remote rural areas.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
12
3. Economic Well-being
Economic well-being refers to the material resources and conditions available to children in their immediate living
environment (such as in their families). While various aspects of economic well-being in family and social contexts
are not domains of child development, they do have major and direct impact on child development. Persistent family
economic hardship and early material deprivation not only aect children’s physical health – leading to problems such as
malnutrition and stunting of growth – but also lead to long-term detrimental eects on socioemotional, self-regulation,
and cognitive development due to their toxic inuence on family processes and parenting (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002;
Hamoudi, Murray, Sorensen, & Fountaine, 2014; Linver, Brooks-Gunn, & Kohen, 2002; Yeung, Linver, & Brooks-
Gunn, 2002). Eradicating extreme poverty is one of United Nation’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
5
Despite China’s rapid economic development for the past three decades, at the end of 2012 there were still nearly
100 million people living below the poverty line of 2,300 Yuan
6
per capita annual net income (World Bank, 2015a).
Furthermore, the poorest people are concentrated in poor rural communities that often lack basic health care facilities,
public hygiene, and infrastructure.
In this section, we examine the economic well-being of Chinese children, including the living conditions of children,
especially those living in poverty. We compare children living in rural and urban areas and discuss the extent of rural-
urban disparities in various aspects of economic well-being. We also examine the family economic status of children
of dierent residence types, including rural children who are left behind by one or both migrant parents and migrant
children living with their parents in urban areas.
5 See MDG’s website at: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.
6 e rural poverty line of 2300 yuan per year is equivalent to 1.6 USD per person per day based on Purchasing Power Parity exchange rate in 2005.
See NBS. (2015). Poverty Monitoring Report of Rural China 2015.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
13
As shown in Table 3.1, over 20 percent of Chinese children live below the poverty line of 2,300 Yuan per capita (1.6 USD
per day at the 2005 PPP exchange rate). Less than half of the children live in households with access to tap water, clean fuel
for cooking, ush toilet, or trash collection service.
Table 3.1. Distribution of Children’s Family Conditions in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Community Type
Variables
Rural (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
Family in poverty*
24.4 8.9 20.2
House crowding 20.2
16.9 19.3
Tap water for cooking* 41.1
90.6 45.6
Clean fuel for cooking* 35.4 84.9 48.7
Use ush toilet* 23.3 76.6 37.7
Trash collection service* 22.4
89.7 40.5
Father education less than HS* 88.2 55.3 79.4
Mother education less than HS* 93.3 61.3 84.7
Father unemployed/not working
12.8 9.7 11.9
Note: CFPS child sample N = 8,990, results are weighted. * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Furthermore, the rural-urban disparity in poverty level and living conditions is striking, as shown in Chart 3.1. While 9
percent of urban children live in poverty, over 24 percent of rural children live in poverty. e living conditions of rural
children are also much poorer with most rural families having no tap water, ush toilets, or trash collection service.
Chart 3.1. Family Conditions of Children in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Note: * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi-square statistic.
Source: CFPS (2010).
As shown in Table 3.1, the educational levels of children’s parents in China are fairly low. Seventy-nine percent of fathers
and 85 percent of mothers have no high school diploma. e rural-urban disparity is equally stark, with 88 percent of
rural fathers and 93 percent of rural mothers having less than high school education versus 55 percent and 61 percent
respectively for urban children (see Chart 3.1). In addition, a higher percentage of rural fathers are unemployed or not
working than urban fathers (13% versus 10%).
7
7 ose unemployed or not working only include people who clearly indicate they are not working or unemployed. Since all migrant workers and
those with unknown employment status are counted as employed, our estimate of the unemployment rate should be conservative.
Family in
Poverty*
House
Crowding
Tap Water for
Cooking*
Use Flush
Toilet*
Trash
Collection
Service*
Father
Education less
than HS*
Mother
Education less
than HS*
Father not
working
/ unemployed
24%
20%
41%
23%
22%
88%
93%
13%
9%
17%
91%
77%
90%
55%
61%
10%
Rural
Urban
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
14
A comparison of children in dierent residential types reveals that children in urban intact families have better family
nancial and living conditions as well as having a higher level of parents’ education (see Table 3.2). Although less well-o
than urban children, migrant children are still doing better than the other three groups of children: their family poverty
level is lower than that of children in rural intact families, left-behind children, and children in single/no parent families.
eir parents’ educational level is also higher. Left-behind children are similar to children in rural intact families in
family poverty level. ey report less house crowding, but a lower proportion of the left-behind children report using tap
water and clean fuel than rural intact families, probably due to the fact that most left-behind children are located in less
developed central and western regions of China. However, a higher proportion of the parents of left-behind children have
a high school education than parents of children in rural intact families. is is because parents of left-behind children
tend to be younger and have received more schooling.
Table 3.2. Percent Distribution of Children’s Family Conditions
by Residence Type in China in 2010
Variables
Rural
Intact (%) Urban (%)
Left
Behind (%) Migrant (%)
Single/No
Parent
Family (%)
Family in poverty* 23.6 6.6 23.9 11.8 31.9
House crowding * 20.9
15.7 16.6 20.1 26.9
Tap water for cooking* 44.3
91.3 40.0 71.8 59.8
Clean fuel for cooking* 39.3 85.0 33.8 72.4 42.6
Use ush toilet* 24.2 76.5 26.8 64.9 39.8
Trash collection service* 26.1
91.5 22.1 67.2 40.7
Father education less than HS* 88.5 51.3 84.1 70.9 82.8
Mother education less than HS* 93.5 58.4 89.6 75.0 85.1
Note: CFPS child sample N = 8,990, results are weighted.
* p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
By far the most economically disadvantaged are children in single/no parent families. Nearly one third of these children
live in poverty, in contrast to 7 percent of urban children and 24 percent of children in rural intact families and left-
behind children who live in poverty. Children in single/no parent families are also more likely to report house crowding.
Although a higher percentage of their families use tap water, clean fuel, a toilet, and trash collection service, this is largely
because some single/no parent families live in urban areas where public utilities are more accessible.
e results described above reveal a glaring disparity between rural and urban children in various aspects of economic
well-being. Low parental educational attainment, unemployment or underemployment, low family income, and poorer
living conditions put rural children at a disadvantage and pose great risks for their development. Children from single/no
parent families in both urban and rural areas are the most economically disadvantaged.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
15
4. Physical Health
Physical health refers to the biological status of children, including their overall physical functioning, incidence of disease
and hospitalization, age- and gender-appropriate body mass index (BMI), and healthy lifestyle (Moore et al., 2008).
Physical health is the foundation of children’s overall development and aects all other domains of child well-being. Physical
health indicators such as low birth weight, infant mortality rate, and malnutrition have long been the focus of the health
promotion policies and intervention programs in China (for instance, see Chinese Children Development Outline released
by State Council
8
). As indicated by ocial statistics, the physical status of children has greatly improved in the past half
century with the increasing availability of health care services and better living conditions (Meng et al., 2012).
is section describes the various aspects of physical health of children in China based on the 2010 CFPS survey data.
We cover the following indicators: the rate of low birth weight children, incidence of sickness and hospitalization, health
insurance coverage, overweight and underweight, and regular exercise behavior.
We dene low birth weight as a weight of 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) or less at birth for the children. As birth weight in
the CFPS survey is reported by the caregiver instead of measured objectively, we restrict the sample to zero to three-year-
olds in order to minimize recall bias. Table 4.1 indicates that low birth weight children account for 8.5 percent of all zero
to three-year-olds. According to their caregivers, 30 percent of all children have been sick in the last month, and nearly
eight percent of all have been hospitalized in the last year. Medical insurance programs, most of them publicly funded,
are used by just 63 percent of children.
9
For healthy life style, we use self-reported frequency of physical exercise in the
past month as the indicator. As shown in the table, 72 percent of children between 10 and 15 years old have engaged in
physical exercise twice or more in the last month.
8 See “中国儿童发展纲要(2011-2020)” http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2011-08/08/content_1920457.html
9 Only 10 percent of the children have private or commercial medical insurance plans. Public health insurance programs include New Rural
Cooperative health care, urban employee health insurance, urban resident health insurance (see Chen, Jiang, & Huang, 2009).
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
16
e other major indicator of child physical soundness is the body mass index (BMI) which is a person’s weight in
kilograms divided by the square of height in meters. Since a high BMI often indicates high body fat, BMI can be used
to screen for weight categories such as obese or overweight that may lead to health problems. As there are no national
standards for BMI for age in China, we use the United States CDC’s child growth standards instead. We calculated
each child’s BMI percentile from its gender-specic BMI for age and classied the children as obese (≥ 95th percentile),
overweight (85th to 95th percentile), normal (5th to 85th percentile) and underweight (≤ 5th percentile).
10
As shown in Table 4.1, 19 percent of the children aged one to 15 years old are underweight, while eight and 18 percent
are overweight or obese, respectively.
11
Only 55 percent of all children in China have a BMI classied as “normal.” We
reiterate that body weight and height of the children used to calculate their BMI are reported by caregivers instead of
measured; therefore, some percentiles may not be accurate.
Table 4.1. Distribution of Children’s Health Conditions in Rural and Urban Areas
in China in 2010
Community Type
Variables
Rural (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
Low birth weight (age 0-3 years old) * 9.8 5.0 8.5
Sick last month 30.1 28.9 29.8
See doctor last year * 48.6 55.4 50.4
Hospitalized last year 7.3 8.7 7.7
Have medical insurance * 64.5 58.3 62.8
Self-reported health (10-15 years old) 73.0 74.3 73.4
Exercise last month (10-15 years old) 70.6 74.8 71.8
BMI Categories (1-15) *
Underweight 19.1 17.9 18.8
Normal 52.9 60.9 55.1
Overweight 8.1 9.0 8.3
Obese 20.0 12.2 17.8
Note: Sample sizes vary according to age group, results are weighted.
* p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
10 See http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html.
11 In the US, among young people aged 2 to 19, about 31.8 percent are considered to be either overweight or obese
(http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Documents/stat904z.pdf). See also Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2014.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
17
ere is an obvious rural-urban disparity in low birth weight and child obesity. As shown in Chart 4.1, while 5 percent of
urban children aged zero to 3 have a low birth weight, nearly 10 percent of rural children do. Poverty, malnutrition, lack
of prenatal care, and poor living and working conditions of some rural families may have contributed to low birth weight
(Kramer, 1987). Additionally, rural children are more likely to be obese than urban children (20% vs. 12%).
12
Our nding
also shows that, although there are similar proportions of rural and urban children who get sick, rural children are less likely
to see a doctor than urban children. is is more likely due to a lack of availability of or access to medical services in rural
areas rather than a reection of their dierent health status. An encouraging nding for rural children is that 64 percent of
rural children have health insurance in contrast to 58 percent of urban children. is reects the achievement of the New
Rural Cooperative Medical Care that was launched in 2003 (Wagsta, Lindelow, Wang, & Zhang, 2009; World Bank, 2005).
Although the coverage and payment standards of the rural program are not as generous as the medical insurance types enjoyed
by many urban residents, it still can protect rural families from nancial devastation in case of severe illness and get children
the treatment they need (Fan, Xie, & Yin, 2009; Wang, Gu, Du, & Wang, 2007; Yao & Zhang, 2013).
13
Chart 4.1. Health Conditions of Children in Rural and Urban Areas in 2010
Note:* p<.05 based on designed-based Pearson chi square statistic.
DataSource: CFPS (2010)
12 is nding is dierent from some prior research ndings showing a lower percentage of rural children as obese than urban children
(e.g., Ministry of Public Health, 2012).
13 Studies also show that the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care increases use of preventive care, but does not lead to more use of formal medical
service or better health conditions (Lei & Lin, 2009).
Low
Birthweight
(0-3)*
Obese (1-15)* Sick Last Month See Doctor Last
Year*
Hospitalized
Last Year
Have Medical
Insurance *
Self-reported
Health (10-15)
Exercise Last
Month (10-15)
Rural
Urban
10%
20%
30%
49%
7%
64%
73%
71%
5%
12%
29%
55%
9%
58%
74%
75%
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
18
Table 4.2. Distribution of Children’s Health Conditions by Residence Type in China in 2010
Variables
Rural
Intact (%)
Urban
Intact (%)
Left
Behind (%) Migrant (%)
Single/
No parent
Family (%)
Low birth Weight (0-3 years old)† 9.1 4.6 9.9 5.9 28.5
Sick last month (0-3 years old) * 43.3 38.9 56.7 43.4 51.2
See doctor last year* 46.7 55.8 55.6 49.1 46.9
Hospitalized last year 6.9 8.1 9.0 8.5 7.4
Have medical insurance * 66.1 60.7 61.9 48.5 62.0
Self-reported health (10-15 years old) 73.6 73.4 73.9 71.5 71.3
Exercise last month (10-15 years old) 71.5 74.5 69.9 73.6 69.8
Note: Sample sizes vary based on age group. Results weighted. † .05< p < .10; * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
For children with dierent residence types (see Table 4.2), a major nding is that children left behind in rural areas are
much more vulnerable to illness than either rural or urban intact families as well as migrant children and those from
single/no parent families.
In fact, as many as 57 percent of the left-behind children between zero and three years old were reported to be sick in the
last month, compared to 43 percent, 39 percent, 43 percent, and 51 percent for normal rural, urban, migrant children
and single/no parent children, respectively. ey were also somewhat more likely to be hospitalized in the last year than
the other children and reported getting less physical exercise. Migrant children are less likely to have low birth weight
than rural intact and left-behind children, but they have the lowest percentage of public medical insurance coverage at
48 percent, compared to over 60 percent for any other groups of children. e health conditions of children in single/no
parent families are not much better than the left-behind children. Over half of them have been sick in the last month. As
many as 28 percent of these children are born with low birth weight, versus 10 percent of left-behind children.
In summary, rural children are at a disadvantage in many aspects of physical health. e most vulnerable children are the
largely rural, left-behind children and the children living in single/no parent families in both rural and urban areas.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
19
5. Psychological and
Social-Emotional Well-being
Psychological well-being and social well-being are two separate, but related, developmental domains for children.
Psychological health refers to the mental and emotional state of children and their opinions about themselves and
their future. Indicators include self-esteem, self-ecacy, depression, and sense of happiness. Social well-being indicates
the ability and skills of children to get along with others and make friends in their social milieu. e two domains
are closely related because children with mental problems – such as depression, anxiety, and other emotional self-
regulation disturbances – often act out in socially undesirable ways, such as showing social withdrawal, aggressiveness,
and antisocial behaviors. Children and adolescents with mental health problems and social decits often have
diculty in normal cognitive development and school performance (see, for example, Breslau, Lane, Sampson, &
Kessler, 2008). e Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been monitoring children’s mental health
in the US through various ongoing national surveys and registry systems.
14
Although no comprehensive national
statistics about children’s mental health state in China are available, various studies have examined dierent mental
health issues of children and youth in various regions of China (see, for example, Tang & Qin, 2015).
In this section, we examine the psychological well-being of 10- to 15-year-old children from several aspects, including
depression, sense of happiness, condence for the future, self-esteem, and self-ecacy.
15
e composite index of
depression comes from the adapted Chinese version of the K6 screening tool (see Green, Gruber, Sampson, Zaslavsky,
& Kessler, 2010). It consists of 6 questions asking respondents how often they experience each of six symptoms of
major depression and generalized anxiety disorder in the past month. In this study, depression is indicated when the
14 See: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6202a1.htm?s_cid=su6202a1_w
15 Self-esteem and self-ecacy scales are only available for 10- year-old children.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
20
child reports that he/she experiences at least one of the six symptoms at least 2 or 3 times per week. Happiness and
condence for the future are both based on single questions asking the respondents how happy they feel they are and
how condent they are in their future. Children who report a score of 4 or 5 on a ve-point Likert scale from very
unhappy (“1”) to very happy (“5”) or no condence at all (“1”) to very condent (“5”) are regarded to be “happy” or
“condent in their future.”
Self-esteem is based on the Chinese version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Each child’s total score is the sum of
scores for each of 9 statements.
16
Higher scores indicate higher self-esteem.
17
Bandura (1989) dened self-ecacy as
the condence individuals have in their ability to organize and execute courses of action required to attain specic
performance outcomes. CFPS used the rst 4 items of the 7-item Pearlin Mastery Scale designed to measure the
perception of individuals for their ability to control forces that signicantly impact their lives. After reverse coding
three items, we summed the four items to get the self-ecacy score, with higher scores indicating higher self-ecacy.
18
To assess social well-being, we use three indicators that are based on three single questions asked of 10- to 15-year-old
children. ey are asked to assess their personal relations and their social skills on a ve-point Likert scale from 1 to 5,
with 1 representing “very bad” and 5 representing “very good.” Children who report a score of 4 or 5 on each of the
two scales are regarded as having good relations and social skills. e children are also asked to report the number of
good friends they have, which is a continuous variable.
16 One statement, “I wish I could have more respect for myself,” is excluded from the original ten because of the inaccurate translation in
the Chinese version.
17 e composite self-esteem scale has an unadjusted mean of 25.78 (sd = 2.24, min = 19, max = 35).
18 e composition self-ecacy scale has an unadjusted mean of 10.96 (sd = 1.38, min = 6, max = 15).
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
21
As shown in Table 5.1, 21 percent of the 10 to 15 years olds have depression symptom(s) more than two times a week,
20 percent do not feel happy, and 22 percent have no condence in their future. As shown in Chart 5.1, there are
signicant disparities between rural and urban children in their feelings of happiness and condence. A higher percentage
of rural children than urban children regard themselves as unhappy or have no condence in their future (22% versus
16% are unhappy, and 24% versus 19% have no condence in their future). e mean self-esteem and self-ecacy scores
of rural children are signicantly lower than urban children (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1. Psychological and Social Well-being for Children Ages 10 to 15 China in 2010
Variables
Rural Urban Total
Depression (%) 20.5 22.1 21.0
Don’t feel happy (%) * 21.6 16.4 20.1
No condence in future (%) † 23.5 18.7 22.1
Lack good personal relations (%) * 34.0 23.7 31.1
Lack good social skills (%) * 27.7 21.2 25.8
Self-esteem score (mean; age 10) * 25.4 26.9 25.9
Self-ecacy score (mean; age 10) * 10.8 11.5 11.0
Number of good friends (mean) * 6.2 8.3 6.8
Note:Sample size N=3,464. e means test is based on post-estimation test of means. † .05< p< .10;* p< .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
e results on social well-being reveal that rural children lag behind their urban counterparts in all three indicators of social
well-being (Chart 5.1). Over a third of rural children report not having good personal relations, in contrast to a quarter of
urban children. Rural children have on average six good friends while urban children report an average of eight.
Chart 5.1. Psychological and Social Well-being of Children in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Note: *p< .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic. † .05 < p < .10 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Source: CFPS(2010).
Depression Don’t Feel Happy * No Condence in
Future†
Lack Good Personal
Relations*
Lack Good Social Skill*
Rural
Urban
21%
22%
24%
34%
28%
22%
16%
19%
24%
21%
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
22
Children in dierent residence types also tend to dier in levels of psychological and social well-being. Table
5.2 shows that left-behind children and children of single/no parent families are the two groups vulnerable to
psychological ill health. Around 30 percent of the children of single/no parent families suer from symptoms
of depression and are unhappy. Both left-behind children and children of single/no parent families have lower
ecacy scores than children of rural and urban intact families. Children of single/no parent families are the most
disadvantaged in terms of social well-being. irty-eight percent report that they do not have good personal relations
in contrast to 33 percent of rural intact children and 23 percent of urban intact children.
Table 5.2. Psychological and Social Well-being for Children Ages 10 to 15
by Residence Type in China
Variables
Rural
Intact
Urban
Intact
Left
Behind Migrant
Single/
No Parent
Family
Depression (%) † 18.9 24.7 21.4 18.2 29.8
Don’t feel happy (%) † 20.3 17.7 20.1 16.4 30.7
No condence in future (%) 21.1 18.6 26.0 24.5 28.6
Lack good personal relations (%) * 33.4 23.0 33.6 22.5 38.0
Lack good social skills (%) 26.4 22.1 27.8 20.6 32.2
Self-esteem score (mean; age 10) * 25.5
a
26.9
ab
25.3
b
25.9 26.1
Self-ecacy score (mean; age 10) * 11.1
abc
11.5
adef
10.6
bd
10.8
e
10.2
cf
Number of good friends (mean) * 6.4
a
8.6
abc
6.0
b
7.6 6.5
c
Note: Sample size N=3,464. † .05< p < .10, * p < .05 for percentages based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic. * p < .05 for post-estimation test of
means. e categories with the same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p < 0.05 level.
On the other hand, migrant children are the least likely to report depression symptoms and feeling of unhappiness.
is is despite the fact that they are more likely to show no condence in their future than rural and urban intact
children. Additionally, migrant children are more likely to report having good personal relationships than any of the
other groups of children.
It is also noteworthy that, although children of urban intact families have the highest self-esteem and self-ecacy
scores, and are more likely to be happy and have condence in the future, they have a higher probability of reporting
depression symptoms than children of rural intact families, left-behind children, and migrant children. is nding is
contrary to the higher levels of social-emotional well-being for urban children in almost all other aspects, and warrants
further examination.
e results presented in this section demonstrate the rural-urban disparities in psychological and social well-being,
with rural children, left-behind children, and children of single/no parent families at a clear disadvantage.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
23
6. Educational Achievement
and Cognitive Development
Educational and cognitive well-being refers to the ability of children to learn language, mathematics, and other
knowledge appropriate for their age level. It also includes their development of cognitive skills required to eectively
understand their environment and communicate with people. Kindergartens and schools are major formal settings
where children learn new knowledge and master various cognitive skills. It has been established that early childhood
education at high quality child care centers, preschools, and elementary schools are crucial for children’s later educational
achievement and future economic success (Cunha & Heckman, 2010; Heckman, Moon, Pinto, Savelyev, & Yavitz, 2010;
Reynolds, Temple, & Ou, 2011). Since the 1980s, with the implementation of the nine-year compulsory education
system, most children in China have been able to complete nine years of elementary and junior high school. Early
childhood education through public and private kindergartens and nurseries is also developing rapidly in both urban
and rural areas.
19
However, major challenges still remain in bridging the gap between rural and urban areas in terms of
available educational resources and the quality of school education (Dollar, 2007; Qian & Smyth, 2008).
is section describes the educational and cognitive well-being of children in China. We present the proportion of
children enrolled in kindergarten and schools and compare the levels of engagement in school, school satisfaction,
and school performance between rural and urban children. We also compare rural and urban children in their college
aspirations as well as their scores on math and vocabulary tests.
19 For instance, see the NBS “Report on Implementation of Chinese Children Development Outline” (2013年中国儿童发展纲要实施情况统计报告).
Available at: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201501/t20150129_675797.html
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
24
As Table 6.1 indicates, 55 percent of the 3-to 5-year-old children are in nursery or kindergarten. However, while 76
percent of urban children are enrolled in kindergarten, only 48 percent of rural children are enrolled (see Chart 6.1). is
clearly reveals the rural-urban discrepancy in early education resources for preschool-age children. Yet, the rural-urban
disparity in school enrollment is minimal; ninety-two percent of rural children age six to 15 and 94 percent of same age
urban children are enrolled in schools. e high enrollment rate of school age children reects the achievement of the
9-year compulsory education policy. However, nearly a third (31%) of 10- to 15-year-old students in rural communities
attend boarding schools, which are often of poor quality. In contrast, only eight percent of urban students aged 10 to 15
are boarders. Overall, as many as 64 percent of 10- to 15-year-olds aspire to complete a college education.
20
However,
there are signicant disparities in college aspirations of rural and urban students. While 77 percent of urban students
harbor college aspirations, only 59 percent of rural children do so (see Chart 6.1).
Table 6.1. Distribution of Child Schooling in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Community Type
Variables
Rural (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
In kindergarten (age 3-5) * 47.5 76.3 54.8
In school (age 6-15) 92.04 94.2 92.6
In boarding school (age 10-15)* 30.8 7.6 24.2
Aspire to college degree (age 10-15)* 58.7 77.0 63.9
Note: Sample size varies according to age group. Results weighted. * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Chart 6.1. Schooling for Children in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Note: * p< .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Source: CFPS(2010).
20 “College education” as dened here includes two-year colleges (similar to associate degrees in the US), four-year colleges and post-graduate study.
In Kindergarten (age 3-5)* In School (age 6-15) In Boarding School (10-15)* Aspire to college degree(10-15)*
Rural
Urban
47.5%
92.0%
30.8%
58.7%
76.3%
94.2%
7.6%
77.0%
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Table 6.2 shows the schooling status for children by residence type. Compared to children in the other residence types, fewer
left-behind children are enrolled in kindergarten or other preschool programs. Children of single/no parent families are less
likely to aspire to a college degree than other groups of children. Although migrant children lag behind urban children in
intact families in kindergarten enrollment and college aspiration, they perform much better on both aspects than children of
rural intact families, left-behind children, and children of single/no parent families.
Table 6.2. Child Schooling by Residence Type in 2010
Variables
Rural
Intact
Urban
Intact
Left
Behind
Migrant
Single/
No Parent
Family
In kindergarten (age 3-5) * 50.3 79.8 45.8 61.9 56.7
In school (age 6-15) 92.6 94.7 92.3 90.8 89.5
In boarding school (age 10-15)* 31.8 7.8 25.6 13.9 17.8
Aspire to college degree (age 10-15)* 60.2 78.7 60.4 69.2 53.3
Note: Sample sizes vary. Results weighted.* p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
e data presented on study engagement are based on the average score of ve items asking students about their study
habits on a ve-point Likert scale from totally disagree (1) to totally agree (5): “study hard,” “pay attention to study in class,”
“double check homework after completion to guarantee correctness,” “obey school rules and disciplines,” and “don’t play
until completing homework.” School satisfaction is measured by the average score of ve items asking children about their
satisfaction with school, their head teacher, Chinese teacher, math teacher, and English teacher on a ve-point Likert scale
from very dissatised (1) to very satised (5). Satisfaction with study performance is measured by a single item (“How do
you think of your academic performance?”) on a scale from very dissatised (1) to very satised (5). Self-evaluation as a
student is measured by another single item (“How excellent do you think you are as a student?) on a scale from very bad (1)
to very excellent (5).
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Chart 6.2 shows the mean scores of study engagement, school satisfaction, satisfaction with study performance, and
self-evaluation of rural and urban children by gender. For study engagement of children who are 10 to 15 years old,
although there are signicant gender dierences in favor of girls, no dierence is found between rural and urban
children. Comparing school satisfaction between rural and urban students, we do nd some signicant dierences.
Rural children, especially boys, are the least satised with their schools. Rural girls tend to like their schools better
than rural boys, but are less satised than urban girls with their schools. On the measure of self-evaluation as a
student, rural males also tend to be the least satised (also see table 6.3).
Chart 6.2. Study Engagement and Satisfaction for Children 10 and 15
by Gender and Community Type in China in 2010
Note: * p < .05 for post-estimation t-test of means for one or more two-category comparisons.
Source: CFPS (2010).
Table 6.3. Mean Scores of Study Engagement and Satisfaction for Children Aged 10 to 15
by Community Type and Gender in 2010
Rural Female Rural Male Urban Female Urban Male
Indicator Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E.
Study Engagement
3.676
ac
0.025 3.488
ab
0.027 3.679
bd
0.033 3.528
cd
0.034
School Satisfaction 4.029
ac
0.037 3.964
abd
0.036 4.267
bce
0.048 4.081
de
0.045
Satisfaction with
Study Performance
3.405
a
0.038 3.228
ab
0.031 3.418
b
0.051 3.319 0.065
Self-evaluation
as a Student
3.287
a
0.039 3.055
abc
0.040 3.319
b
0.055 3.237
c
0.068
Note: Sample size N=3,359. Results weighted.
e categories with same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p< 0.05 based on postestimation T test of means.
Rural Female
Rural Male
Urban Female
Urban Male
Study Engagement * School Satisfaction * Satisfaction with Study* Self-evaluation as Student *
3.68
3.49
3.68
3.53
4.03
3.41
3.23
3.42
3.32 3.29
3.06
3.32
3.24
3.96
4.27
4.08
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Table 6.4 shows the means of study engagement and school satisfaction by residence type. It is encouraging to nd
that both the left-behind children and migrant children are better able to engage in their studies than children in
rural intact families. However, migrant children are more satised with their schools than the left-behind children and
children of rural intact families. Left-behind children are also signicantly less satised than urban children with their
academic performance and self-evaluation as a student.
Children’s scores on the vocabulary and math tests administered directly by the CFPS survey interviewer are objective
measures of the cognitive ability of 10- to 15-year-olds. e vocabulary test is a cognitive test of language ability
designed by CFPS for recognition of Chinese words according to level of diculty. e math test is a test for children
and adults containing math skills questions based on levels of diculty.
21
Table 6.4. Mean Scores of Study Engagement and Satisfaction for Children Aged 10 to 15
by Residence Type
Rural Intact Urban Intact Left Behind Migrant
Single/No
Parent Family
Indicator Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E.
Study engagement 3.55
ab
0.024 3.59 0.031 3.62
a
0.028 3.66
b
0.038 3.62 0.059
School satisfaction 4.01
ac
0.034 4.16
ab
0.047 3.97
bd
0.052 4.19
cd
0.046 4.10 0.071
Satisfaction with
study performance
3.31 0.03 3.38
a
0.05 3.28
a
0.047 3.41 0.069 3.36 0.087
Self-evaluation
as a student
3.16
a
0.036 3.30
ab
0.06 3.13
b
0.06 3.26 0.079 3.26 0.068
Note: Sample size N=3,359. Results weighted. e categories with the same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p < 0.05 level.
21 e mean, standard deviation, and range of test scores based on unweighted data are: vocabulary test (21.7, 7.13, 0–34),
math test (11.20, 4.45, 0–24).
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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e results demonstrate that rural children, both boys and girls, perform poorly in both word recognition and math
calculation compared to urban children (see Table 6.5). Rural males have the lowest average scores. Children of urban
intact families have better scores than children of rural intact families, left-behind children, and children of single/no
parent families on both vocabulary and math tests (see Table 6.6). However, similar to urban children, the vocabulary
test scores of migrant children are signicantly higher than those of rural intact families, left-behind children,
and children of single/no parent families. eir average vocabulary score is even higher than that of children from
urban intact families, although this dierence is not statistically signicant. Migrant children’s comparatively high
performance on the vocabulary test is a nding worthy of future exploration.
Table 6.5. Mean Test Scores of Children Aged 10 to 15 by Community Type and Gender
in China in 2010
Rural Female Rural Male Urban Female Urban Male
Type of Test Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E.
Vocabulary
21.64
abc
0.509 20.23
ade
0.489 24.56
bd
0.444 23.73
ce
0.382
Math 10.93
ab
0.261 10.73
cd
0.23 12.19
ac
0.266 12.41
bd
0.239
Note: Sample size N= 3,360, results weighted.e categories with same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p< 0.05 level.
Table 6.6. Mean Test Scores of Children Aged 10 to 15 by Residence Type in China in 2010
Rural Intact Urban Intact Left Behind Migrant
Single/No
Parent Family
Type of Test Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E.
Vocabulary
20.89
ab
0.471 23.98
acd
0.428 21.09
ce
0.821 24.27
bef
0.53 22.18
df
0.692
Math
10.91
a
0.214 12.36
abc
0.23 10.87
ab
0.375 11.7 0.411 11.13
c
0.385
Note: Sample size N= 3,360, results weighted.e categories with same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p < 0.05 level.
In this section we examined the cognitive and educational well-being of children in China. We found that rural children,
especially males, have lower cognitive test scores than their urban counterparts. ey are also less satised with their
school and less engaged with school work than urban children.
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7. Family and Community
Contexts
eories and research on human development have put great emphasis on the importance of various contexts and how they
interrelate and aect child development (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979). In previous sections, we examined the developmental
well-being of children in dierent domains. In this section, we describe the multiple contexts of child development,
especially the inuence of families and communities.
Families are the most common setting in which children are raised and educated. Family functioning is crucial for healthy
child development in various domains, especially during the early years when children’s physical growth and cognitive
and social development are most rapid and time-sensitive (Henrich & Gadaire, 2008; Weiss, Caspe, & Lopez, 2006). In
particular, material resources and family relationships are highly inuential aspects of family context. In the section on
economic well-being, we highlighted family poverty and parental education as important indicators of economic well-
being. In this section, we examine the role of family structure, the observed home environment, parental engagement and
interaction with children (including reading to the child), and parenting styles. Community context, which covers the
physical and social venues where children interact and socialize with others, is also analyzed in this section.
Family Structure
As we showed in Table 1.1, 13 percent of Chinese children do not live with their parents and another 15 percent live
with only one parent. Most of these children are rural left-behind children whose parents work in urban areas. Left
alone or in the care of grandparents – who tend to be less educated and in frail health – rural children, especially the
left-behind, are at a developmental disadvantage. Children of single/no parent families, who account for 5 percent of the
child population, are in a similar situation; in addition to the lack of typical parental care, they may also suer from the
psychological trauma of parental separation or early parental death (see, for example, Maier & Lachman, 2000).
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Observed Home Environment
e home environments of rural and urban children, as observed by the interviewer, are clearly dierent (see Table 7.1).
Sixty-ve percent of urban children from intact families have a stimulating home environment with books and other
reading materials. is is the case for only 43 percent of rural intact families, 41 percent of left-behind children, and
37 percent of children of single/no parent families. Migrant children have signicantly better home environments than
those from rural intact families, left-behind children, and children of single/no parent families. Children from single/no
parent families have the least favorable home environments of all the groups. Caregivers of rural intact and left-behind
children are less likely to communicate with children than caregivers of urban and migrant children. Caregivers in single/
no parent families are the least likely to communicate with their children.
Table 7.1. Percentage of Children with Positive Observed Home Environment by Residence Type
Home Environment
Rural
Intact (%)
Urban
Intact (%)
Left
Behind (%) Migrant (%)
Single/
No Parent
Family (%)
Stimulating home environment * 43
abc
65
ade
41
dfg
55
bfh
37
cegh
Parents communicate with child * 55
abc
71
ade
49
dfg
65
bfh
40
cegh
Note: Sample size N=8,990, results weighted. * e categories with same subscripted letters are signicantly dierent at p < 0.05 level based on post-
estimation test of means.
Parental Involvement In Child Education
To understand parents’ or other primary caregivers’ involvement in their children’s education, we used four indicators:
reading to the child, buying the child books, homework supervision, and tutoring (see Table 7.2).
22
Among children
three to ve years old, more than half of caregivers read to them often and purchase books for them. For children aged 10
to 15, 79 percent and 39 percent of caregivers often supervise their homework and provide tutoring, respectively. Most
Chinese parents are very much involved in their children’s education from early childhood through their school years.
Table 7.2. Caregivers’ Involvement in Child Education in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Community Type
Caregiver Often...
Rural (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
Read to child (age 3-5) * 49.6 77.9 56.8
Buy child books (3-5) * 58.3 89.4 66.3
Supervise homework (10-15)* 73.3 93.8 78.5
Oer homework tutoring (10-15)* 32.5 59.1 39.3
Note: Sample sizes dier based on age group. * p<.05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
22 For “read to child,” reading to child at least once a month as reported by caregiver is considered “often”. “Buy books” means buy children’s books
at least several times a year, also reported by caregiver. “Homework supervision” means caregiver demanding child complete homework at 2 times a
week. “Tutoring” means caregiver checking on child’s homework at least 2 times a week. e last two items are reported by students.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
31
However, there are considerable dierences between rural and urban children in the extent of parental involvement. For
example, 78 percent of urban parents often read to their children in contrast to the 50 percent of rural caregivers (see
Chart 7.1). If we examine caregiver involvement by residence type, we nd that children who are left behind and, to
some extent, children of single/no-parent families are most disadvantaged (see Table 7.3). Only 42 percent of left-behind
children have caregivers who often read to them compared to more than half of children from rural intact families, urban
intact families, migrant children, and children of single/no-parent families. Only 30 percent of left-behind children
receive homework tutoring from their caregivers, a lower rate than any other group of children.
Chart 7.1. Parental Involvement in Child Education in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Note: * p<0.05 based on designed-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Source: CFPS 2010.
Table 7.3. Caregivers’ Involvement in Child Education by Residence Type in China in 2010
Caregiver Often...
Rural
Intact (%)
Urban
Intact (%)
Left
Behind (%) Migrant (%)
Single/
No Parent
Family (%)
Read to child (age 3-5) * 55.3 81.4 42.3 66.8 55.4
Buy child books (3-5) * 62.2 92.5 56.5 77.7 55.4
Supervise homework (10-15)* 78.2 85.8 72.8 80.7 73.1
Oer homework tutoring (10-15)* 36.7 52.1 30.4 49.3 36.6
Note: Sample size varies based on age group, results weighted.
* p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Read to child
(age 3-5)*
Buy child books
(3-5)*
Supervise homework
(10-15)*
Oer homework tutoring
(10-15) *
Rural
Urban
49.6%
58.3%
73.3%
32.5%
77.9%
89.4%
93.8%
59.1%
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Parenting Behavior
Dierent parenting styles and behaviors can have a major impact on the psychological and cognitive development of
children (Dornbusch, Ritter, Leiderman, Roberts, & Fraleigh, 1987). e CPFS survey includes a 12-item module on
positive parenting behaviors reported by 11-year-old children. rough Varimax factor analysis, we can identify three
distinct factors representing dierent aspects of parenting behavior, which we term “encouragement,” “engagement,” and
“interaction.”
23
Caregivers of rural children perform poorly in all three aspects of positive parenting based on mean factor
scores (see Table 7.4).
24
Our statistical tests of mean factor scores of positive parenting for children in dierent residence
types also indicate that caregivers of urban intact families are more likely to engage in positive parenting practices than
rural caregivers and caregivers of left-behind children. However, no signicant dierence exists between left-behind
children and children from rural intact families (see Table 7.5). It is noteworthy that caregivers for children of single/
no parent families are more likely to engage with their children than caregivers of rural intact families; they also tend to
interact more with their children than caregivers of left-behind children.
Table 7.4. Mean Score of Parenting Behavior for 11-year-old in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Rural Urban
Parenting Behavior Mean S.E. Mean S.E.
Encouragement*
-0.101 0.053 0.191 0.078
Engagement * -0.022 0.056 0.290 0.104
Interaction * -0.095 0.052 0.251 0.080
Note: Sample size N=566, results weighted. Analysis based on factor scores from a Varimax factor analysis of 12 items. * p < 0.05 level based on design-based
Pearson chi square statistic.
Table 7.5. Mean Score of Parenting Behavior for 11-year-olds by Residence Type in China in 2010
Residence Type
Parenting Behavior
Rural
Intact
Urban
Intact
Left
Behind Migrant
Single/No
Parent Family
Encouragement† -0.077
ab
0.116
a
0.082 0.187 0.227
b
Engagement * 0.017
a
0.321
abc
-0.020
b
-0.068
c
0.171
Interaction * -0.056
a
0.252
ab
-0.141
bc
0.093 0.312
c
Note: Sample size N=566, results weighted. Analysis based on factor scores from a Varimax factor analysis of 12 items. Any two categories with same
subscripted letter are signicantly dierent at † p<0.10, * p < 0.05 level.
23 Parenting style refers to the three factors extracted through factor analysis of child-reported frequencies of 12 parenting behaviors: (1)encouragement
– caregiver encourage child in study and independent problem-solving, use fair rules and reasoning in handling problem behavior; (2)engagement –
caregivers help with homework and learn about school activities; and (3) interaction – caregivers talk and play with children, and tell stories.
24 e descriptive statistics for the three factor scores are: encourage (M=0 , SD=.84), engage (M=0, SD=.83), interact (M=0, SD=.73).
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Response to Low Grades
We also examined caregivers’ preferred response when their children receive low grades. ese items assess whether
caregivers typically punish or scold the children, require them to study more, or provide more help. Corporal
punishment and scolding are clear indicators of harsh parenting, which are detrimental to child development
(Johnson et al., 2001; Vissing, Straus, Gelles, & Harrop, 1991). Our ndings show that while only 15 percent of
caregivers resort to harsh parenting behavior when their children get lower than expected grades, even fewer (8
percent) respond by oering children more help and support (see Table 7.6). Signicant rural-urban discrepancies also
exist; seventeen percent of rural caregivers prefer corporal punishment or scolding in contrast to 10 percent of urban
caregivers. Caregivers of migrant children are the least likely to resort to corporal punishment and scolding and the
most likely to oer more help (see Table 7.7).
Table 7.6. Parents’ Response to Low Grades for 10 to 15 Year Olds in Rural and Urban China
in 2010
Community Type
Parents Response to Low Grades *
Rural (%) Urban (%) Total (%)
Punish, scold 17.3 9.7 15.1
Tell child study more 75.1 80.1 76.5
More help to child 7.7 10.2 8.4
Note: Sample size N=3,323, results weighted. * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Table 7.7. Parents’ Response to Low Grades for Children Ages 10 to 15 by Residence Type
Parents Response to Low Grades *
Rural
Intact (%)
Urban
Intact (%)
Left
Behind (%) Migrant (%)
Single/
No Parent
Family (%)
Punish, scold 17.0 9.6 19.1 4.8 15.0
Tell child study more 75.5 80.8 73.0 82.9 75.6
More help to child 7.6 9.6 7.9 12.3 9.3
Note: Sample size N=3,323, results weighted. * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Community Context
In addition to the family environment, community and neighborhood contexts have an eect on child development
(Sampson, 2003). Major aspects of neighborhood context that are crucial for child development and well-being
include poverty level, safety, neighbor relations, access to child care facilities and schools, and access to other social
service resources.
Our results indicate that economic and living conditions of rural communities are much poorer than those in urban
communities, as reported by community administrators or observed by interviewers (see Table 7.8). For example, while
over 90 percent of urban children live in communities with tap water and clean cooking fuel, only 39 percent of rural
children live in communities with access to tap water, and 38 percent of rural children live in communities with clean
cooking fuel. Also, rural communities have fewer public service institutions or facilities – such as pharmacies, sports
grounds, or playgrounds – than urban communities. Eighty percent of urban children have access to a kindergarten in
their community compared to only 45 percent of rural children. However, a higher percentage of rural children than
urban children (71% vs. 55%) have a primary school in their community.
Table 7.8. Community Conditions for Children in Rural and Urban China in 2010
Rural Urban
Variables % Mean S.E. % Mean S.E.
Tap water as main drinking water source* 39% 0.037 94% 0.021
Gas/Solar/methane as primary cooking fuel * 38% 0.039 91% 0.026
Kindergarten in community * 45% 0.039 80% 0.044
Primary school in community * 71% 0.036 55% 0.048
Proportion of immigrants in population * 0.06 0.009 0.27 0.028
Observed economic conditions by interviewer * 3.89 0.118 4.63 0.121
Street cleanliness observed by interviewer * 4.19 0.116 4.95 0.121
Number of public service institutions/facilities (≤8) * 3.36 0.127 4.79 0.172
Number of infrastructure / utilities (≤8) 5.38 0.126 5.76 0.208
Note: Sample size N=8,990, results weighted. † .05< p < .10, * p < .05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic. All variables are community-level
indicators reported by community administrators or interviewers.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
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Neighborhood Relationships
Several questions in the CFPS ask whether and how often each family interacted with their neighbors in various ways
during the last month (i.e., no contact with their neighbors, just talk to each other, or visit and help each other). Our
analysis reveals signicant dierences between families of rural and urban communities (see Table 7.9). Rural families
are more likely (54 percent) than urban families (42 percent) to interact with neighbors in a close manner, such as
by visiting each other, providing help, or oering food and other gifts. e positive neighborhood relationship in
rural areas may provide a supportive buer for rural children. However, when we examined rural intact families and
families of left-behind children separately, we found that a much smaller percentage of families with left-behind
children (47 percent) report positive neighborhood relationships than rural intact families (56 percent). Single/no
parent families are the least likely to report positive neighborhood relations (40 percent). e lack of neighborhood
supportiveness may put left-behind children and children in single/no parent families at a further disadvantage. e
situation is similar for left-behind children and children of single/no parent families in their relationships with friends
and relatives.
Table 7.9. Neighborhood and Friends/Relative Relationship by Community Type and
Resident Type in 2010
Community Type Residence Type
Parenting Behavior
Rural
(%)
Urban
(%)
Total
(%)
Rural
Intact (%)
Urban
Intact (%)
Left
Behind (%)
Migrant
(%)
Single/
No Parent
Family (%)
Neighbor relations *
No contact 20.4 26.8 22.1 19 25 25 23 28
Only chat 25.4 31.0 26.9 25 30 28 28 32
Visit and help 54.2 42.2 51.0 56 45 47 49 40
Friends/relative
relations *
No contact 35.4 25.2 32.6 32 22 44 30 38
Only chat 9.4 6.1 8.5 9 6 9 6 10
Visit and help 55.3 68.7 58.9 59 73 47 64 52
Note: Sample size N=8,990, results weighted. * p <.05 based on design-based Pearson chi square statistic.
In this section, we described the family and neighborhood contexts of the children. Rural-urban disparities exist in
multiple aspects of family context, such as stimulating home environment, positive parenting behavior, and caregiver
support for school work. e economic and living conditions of rural communities are also worse than those in urban
communities. Although positive neighborhood relationships provide some support for rural children, left-behind
children seem to lack this crucial asset.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
36
8. Association of Family and
Social Contexts with Child
Development
In previous sections, we examined several domains of child well-being and development and family and community
context for children in China. We found signicant disparities between children in rural and urban areas. e ndings
also indicate that rural left-behind children and children of single/no parent families are especially disadvantaged.
Earlier research has found that ecological contexts such as the family have major impact on the development of
child outcomes (Bronfenbrenner, 1994; Bornstein and Bradley, 2012). is section shows the results of multiple
regression statistical models to examine the eects of family and community factors on the various domains of child
development (after taking into consideration demographic attributes of the children). Selected domains of well-being
are used as dependent variables. e goal is to determine whether and to what extent the contextual factors aect
dierent domains of child well-being and whether they contribute to the disparity in well-being between rural and
urban children.
Physical Well-being
Low birthweight is an important indicator of children’s physical well-being. We have shown that the percentage of
children with low birthweight is higher in rural areas than in urban areas and higher in single/no parent families than
in intact families. In order to examine the validity of the bivariate results, we estimated three multiple logistic regression
models after adjusting for demographic characteristics and mother’s age at birth.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
37
e results shown in Table 8.1 indicate that children of single/no parent families and left-behind children are
signicantly more likely to have low birthweight than children of urban and rural intact families (Model 1). Mother’s
birth age is a very important predictor of low birthweight, with mothers younger than 25 having nearly two times the
odds of having low birthweight babies than mothers aged 25 to 35. However, Model 2 shows that after controlling for
mother’s birth age and child’s gender and ethnicity, the disparity between rural left-behind and urban children becomes
insignicant; children of single/no parent families still have a higher probability of being low birthweight, although the
magnitude of the odds ratio has decreased. In Model 3, we added the family poverty indicator to estimate the eect of
family economic contexts. Family poverty level is not a signicant predictor of child low birthweight.
It should be noted that the low birthweight of children in single/no parent families does not necessarily mean that such
a status causes a child’s low birth weight, because family breakup may occur after the child is born or may even be due
to the birth of a low birthweight child. e causal mechanism between a child’s low birth weight and family functioning
warrants further examination.
Table 8.1. Survey Logistic Regression for Low Birth Weight for Children Aged 0-3 Years in
China in 2010, CFPS
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Covariates Odds Ratio S.E. Odds Ratio S.E. Odds Ratio S.E.
Residence Type
(urban intact as ref)
Rural intact family 2.088 1.042 1.721 0.872 1.595 0.792
Left-behind children 2.277† 1.100 2.180 1.149 2.019 1.049
Migrant children 1.297 0.778 1.367 0.880 1.300 0.839
Single/No parent family 8.292** 6.056 7.043* 5.922 6.174* 5.526
Male 0.763 0.184 0.779 0.188
Han ethnicity 0.39† 0.212 0.414† 0.218
Mother's birth age
25 to 35 0.539** 0.126 0.536** 0.126
Over 35 1.229 0.544 1.106 0.497
Family Poverty 1.489 0.378
Intercept 0.048 0.019 0.163 0.093 0.151 0.086
N 1495 1489 1480
Model Fit F(4,153)=2.31 F(8,149)=2.98 F(9,148)=2.76
Note: Models 1, 2, and 3 are for children aged 0 to 3 years. Models are weighted, with 162 PSUs and 6 strata.
† p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01
Psychological well-being: Sense of Happiness
As a major indicator of psychological well-being, a feeling of happiness has been associated with children’s demographic
characteristics as well as various features of family and social context (Ren & Treiman, 2013). We have shown that rural
children are not as happy as children in urban areas. In order to understand dierent factors’ unique contribution to
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
38
happiness, we ran a series of multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for children’s demographic characteristics, family
poverty level, and caregiver parenting behavior. As information on parenting behavior is only collected for 11-year-old
children, our sample for the models is restricted to these children.
As Models 1, 2, and 3 in Table 8.2 demonstrate, rural children – both from rural intact families and left-behind children
– feel less happy than their urban counterparts, even after controlling for their demographic characteristics, family poverty,
and mother’s education. Rural children, including left-behind children, are only 40 percent as likely to be happy as children
in urban intact families. Socioeconomic status of a family has no signicant impact on children’s feelings of happiness.
Model 4 shows that the coecients for children of rural intact families and left-behind children become less
signicant when we add parenting behavior to the model. Among the three aspects of parenting behavior, parental
encouragement is most relevant to children’s sense of happiness, followed by the caregiver interacting with children.
Children with more supportive parents (1 unit increase of factor score) are 2.7 times more likely to feel happy
than those with less supportive parents. To some extent then, the plight of rural children can be attributed to their
caregivers’ lack of positive parenting behavior.
Table 8.2. Survey Logistic Regression Model for Sense of Happiness for Children
in China in 2010, CFPS
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Covariates
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Residence Type
(urban intact as ref)
Rural intact family 0.359** 0.136 0.369* 0.141 0.404** 0.158 0.446† 0.202
Left-behind children 0.367* 0.154 0.363* 0.152 0.390** 0.160 0.517 0.233
Migrant children 0.515 0.327 0.481 0.308 0.491 0.319 0.537 0.435
Single/No parent
family
0.800 0.661 0.872 0.714 0.895 0.739 0.757 0.655
Child male 0.776 0.167 0.776 0.172 0.899 0.229
Han ethnicity 1.159 0.516 1.087 0.491 0.701 0.375
Family poverty 0.754 0.261 1.049 0.393
Mother high school 1.193 0.567 0.726 0.346
Parenting behavior
Encourage 2.662** 0.503
Engage 1.304† 0.193
Interact 1.465† 0.289
Intercept 11.354 4.197 11.480 7.269 11.835 8.304 17.696 13.987
N 571 571 571 566
Model Fit F(4,153)=2.22 F(6,151)=1.55 F(8,149)=1.25 F(11,146)=4.40
Note: Models 1, 2, 3, and 4 are for children 11 years old. Models are weighted, with 162 PSUs and 6 strata. † p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
39
Social Well-being: Social Skills
Whether children and adolescents have good interpersonal relationships is a direct reection of their social well-
being. We learned earlier that a signicantly lower percentage of rural children consider themselves as having good
interpersonal relationships. In the multiple logistic regression models shown in Table 8.3, we examined the unique
association between residence type, family poverty, parenting behavior, and a child’s interpersonal skills, controlling
for children’s demographic characteristics.
e results demonstrate that even after controlling for demographic characteristics, children in rural families, children
in single/no parent families, and migrant children show a signicant lack of good interpersonal skills when compared
to children in urban intact families. e situation is especially dire for children in single/no parent families, whose
odds of having good interpersonal skills are less than 10 percent of that for children in urban intact families.
Family poverty is negatively associated with children’s interpersonal relationships. In this domain, positive parenting
behavior, especially encouragement and interaction, is associated with a better outcome. For rural intact and left-
behind children, adding parenting behavior and family poverty to the model reduces the signicance level of the odds
ratios and increases their magnitude. is indicates that for rural children, a lack of supportive parenting and family
poverty may be a major cause of their comparatively poor interpersonal relationships.
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
40
Table 8.3. Survey Logistic Regression Model for Social Skills for Children in China in 2010, CFPS
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Covariates
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Residence Type
(urban intact as ref)
Rural intact family 0.340** 0.132 0.357** 0.130 0.445* 0.167 0.438* 0.161
Left-behind children 0.399† 0.207 0.388† 0.200 0.463 0.244 0.489 0.242
Migrant children 0.274* 0.143 0.249* 0.135 0.258* 0.143 0.234* 0.132
Single/No parent
family
0.095** 0.063 0.103** 0.067 0.109** 0.074 0.087** 0.067
Child male 0.728 0.181 0.741 0.191 0.713 0.188
Han ethnicity 1.688* 0.426 1.490† 0.340 1.133 0.266
Family Poverty 0.587* 0.155 0.625† 0.164
Mother high school 2.089 0.952 1.665 0.790
Parenting Behavior
Encourage 1.339† 0.208
Engage 1.029 0.134
Interact 1.387† 0.233
Intercept 5.291 1.859 4.046 1.768 3.927 1.785 5.385 2.416
N 571 571 571 566
Model Fit F(4,153)=4.47 F(6,151)=3.96 F(8,149)=3.55 F(11,146)=3.15
Note: Models 1, 2, 3 and 4 are for children aged 11. Models are weighted, with 162 PSUs and 6 strata.
† p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago: Report on the State of Children in China October 2015
41
Cognitive Well-being: Math and Vocabulary Test Scores
Vocabulary and math tests administered to children in the CFPS survey are intended to assess their cognitive
development levels. High test scores indicate high levels of cognitive well-being. Our bivariate analysis in Section 6
reveals a disparity between rural and urban children. e multiple linear regression models below investigate the unique
association between rural residence, family poverty, parenting behavior, and cognitive test scores after controlling for
children’s demographic characteristics.
Table 8.4. Survey Linear Regression Model for Vocabulary Test Scores for Children in China
in 2010, CFPS
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Covariates
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Residence Type
(urban intact as ref)
Rural intact family -2.998* 1.159 -2.690* 1.105 -1.754 1.150 -1.904† 1.039
Left-behind children -2.281† 1.264 -2.354† 1.249 -1.528 1.257 -1.661 1.233
Migrant children 3.778** 1.245 3.577** 1.248 3.803** 1.275 3.432** 1.231
Single/No parent
family
-2.674 2.135 -2.420 2.015 -2.214 1.923 -2.788 1.721
Child male -0.956 0.664 -0.932 0.653 -0.657 0.648
Han ethnicity 3.741** 1.297 3.209* 1.246 2.446* 1.090
Family poverty -2.315* 0.949 -1.701† 0.894
Mother high school 1.815† 0.999 1.105 1.018
Parenting behavior
Encourage 2.372** 0.436
Engage 0.376 0.467
Interact -0.597 0.424
Intercept 21.169 0.952 18.420 1.704 20.200 1.844 20.214 1.679
N 571 571 571 566
R-squared 0.059 0.105 0.132 0.204
Model t F(4,153)=9.05 F(6,151)=6.99 F(8,149)=6.07 F(11,146)=8.67
Note: Models 1, 2, 3 and 4 are for children aged 11. Models are weighted, with 162 PSUs and 6 strata.
† p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01
Our results (see Tables 8.4 and 8.5) show that after controlling for demographic variables, rural children and left-behind
children tend to have lower math and vocabulary scores than children of urban intact families. Family poverty level and
mother’s primary caregivers’ education level are also signicant predictors of vocabulary and math test scores. When parental
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42
behavior variables are added to the model, the eect of caregiver education becomes insignicant for both tests. Instead, we
nd signicant eect of positive parenting behavior, especially parental encouragement, on children’s test scores.
As noted above, it is noteworthy that migrant children have signicantly better vocabulary test scores than even children
of urban intact families, although their math test scores are not much dierent than those of urban children.
Table 8.5. Survey Linear Regression Model for Math Test Scores for Children in China
in 2010, CFPS
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4
Covariates
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Odds
Ratio
S.E.
Residence Type
(urban intact as ref)
Rural intact family -1.334** 0.418 -1.311** 0.393 -0.984* 0.384 -0.961* 0.398
Left-behind children -1.369** 0.477 -1.367** 0.468 -1.073* 0.443 -1.021* 0.499
Migrant children 0.156 0.708 0.276 0.695 0.374 0.700 0.342 0.673
Single/No parent
family children
-1.067 0.715 -1.255† 0.675 -1.143 0.711 -1.324† 0.703
Child male 0.418 0.280 0.454 0.280 0.583* 0.288
Han ethnicity 1.016** 0.370 0.890* 0.361 0.549 0.341
Family poverty -0.311 0.325 -0.001 0.280
Mother high school 0.961* 0.405 0.621 0.429
Parenting behavior
Encourage 0.846* 0.218
Engage 0.245 0.212
Interact -0.061 0.226
Intercept 9.456 0.378 8.361 0.526 9.089 0.624 8.965 0.607
N 571 571 571 566
R-squared 0.035 0.052 0.065 0.113
Model Fit F(4,153)=3.47 F(6,151)=4.17 F(8,149)=3.68 F(11,146)=4.31
Note: Models 1, 2, 3 and 4 are for children aged 11. Models are weighted, with 162 PSUs and 6 strata.
† p<0.10, * p<0.05, ** p<0.01
In this section, we presented the results of multiple regression analysis. First, the results conrm that even after adjusting for
children’s demographic characteristics, the rural-urban disparity in child well-being persists. Second, they demonstrate the
importance of economic and family contexts on the well-being of children. While family poverty inuences children’s social
skills and vocabulary test scores, positive parenting has a positive inuence on most aspects of child well-being, especially
children’s psychological and social well-being. e results further reveal that the rural-urban disparity in child well-being is
partly explained by the higher poverty level and less supportive parenting behavior in rural families.
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9. Conclusion and Policy
Implications
In this study, we examined dierent aspects of the well-being of children in China, including their developmental
outcomes and their social and family contexts. In the section below, we discuss the ndings, which we hope will help
policymakers and stakeholders in child well-being identify the most vulnerable children in need of help.
Since rural and urban residency as established by the hukou system has been a major marker of socioeconomic status
in China, we compared the well-being outcomes and social contexts of rural and urban children. e results reveal
signicant disparities between rural and urban children in multiple domains of well-being. A higher proportion of rural
children are born with low birth weight. Rural children also lag behind urban children in social-emotional development.
ey tend to be less happy and have less condence in their future. Rural children report having fewer good friends and
lacking good social skills. Compared to urban children, rural children also have lower levels of educational achievement
and cognitive development. ey have lower scores on both math and vocabulary tests.
Consistent with their developmental decits, many rural children have to grapple with multiple risk factors in their
family, at school, and in their community. One out of four rural children lives below the poverty line of 1.6 dollars a
day. More than half of preschool-age rural children are not enrolled in preschool education. Due to their parents’ lower
education levels and lack of other resources, rural children receive much less academic support and help from their
parents (such as providing a stimulating home environment, reading to children, and mentoring with homework).
Moreover, many rural children are so-called “left-behind” children, with one or both parents having gone to work in
urban areas. Over 15 percent of children in rural areas do not live with their parents, while another 15 percent of rural
children have only one parent at home. Often in the care of elderly grandparents, left-behind children do not get as
much academic and social support from their caregivers. ey do not have as much condence in their ecacy or in their
future as urban and other rural children. at said, rural children who migrate with their parents to urban areas seem to
do better that their rural counterparts in many developmental areas, including academic performance, although they do
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44
not fare as well as urban children. Still, like left-behind children, migrant children have far less condence in their future
than children in rural intact families and urban families, most likely due to the exclusionary policies and discriminatory
practices in their host communities.
Our analysis identied a group of children living in single/no parent families who are especially vulnerable to
developmental risks, although they account for less than 5 percent of the child population. With their parent(s) either
divorced, deceased, or unknown, they live with only one parent or other kin caregivers. Many of these children have
low birthweight, and their family economic and living conditions are poorer than other groups of children, including
left-behind children. A much higher proportion of these children feel depressed and unhappy and lack condence
in their future. ey also lag behind other groups of children in areas like having good social skills and interpersonal
relationships. Most of these children live in rural areas; and many are left behind by the remaining parent migrating to
urban areas in search of jobs.
While the proximal causes of rural-urban disparity in child well-being can be found in dierences in living conditions,
parenting style, family functioning, and community contexts, the ultimate cause can be traced to national policies and
practices discussed in Section 2. Although a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, China still
needs to restructure many current government policies and practices in order to promote the best interests and well-being
of children.
We have pointed out that the plight of rural children, in particular those left behind by their migrant parents and
children who migrate to urban areas with their parents, stems to a signicant extent from the exclusionary policies and
practices against rural residents and migrants that are based on the household registration (hukou) system. Although
regional practices may dier, large numbers of rural migrants in cities are denied access to social services, such as poverty
relief, low-income housing, health care, and enrollment of their children in urban public schools (see Huang, 2012;
Pong, 2014). erefore, migrants are often forced to leave their children behind in rural areas. Otherwise, they would
have to enroll their children in low-quality migrant schools that lack government nancial support. erefore, an
obvious most important task is abolishing the policies that exclude migrant workers and integrate migrant schools and
migrant children into the public school system. is will require central and local governments to make both political
and nancial commitments to the proper education of migrant children, which has been neglected in many urban areas.
With enrollment of migrant children in urban public schools and access to other urban resources, the number of left-
behind children should decrease as children are able to migrate with their parents. In “Opinions on Further Promoting
Reform of the Household Registration System,” promulgated by the State Council in 2014, the Chinese central
government set the goal of establishing an integrated resident registration system based on current residence by 2020
in place of the rigid discriminatory hukou system (State Council, 2014). e other goal is to enable 100 million rural
migrants and other permanent residents in urban areas to become urban residents entitled to equitable public services
as local residents by the year 2020. If these goals can be realized, migrant children in urban areas will benet from
enrollment in local public schools and access to other social services.
For rural children in general, many researchers have noted government underinvestment in public schooling and have
recommended increasing investment in human capital in rural areas (Heckman, 2005). In Section 2, we discussed the
unintended adverse eects of the rural school consolidation policies on the well-being of children and their families. As
a result of the consolidation, rural children either have to travel longer distances to school or become boarders in school
at a very young age. Although the consolidation policy was suspended a few years ago, damage may have been done to
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45
the long-term well-being of some of these rural children. Despite declining enrollment and a nancial shortfall, local
governments should carefully balance the short-term cost savings of school consolidation against its possible short- and
long-term adverse eect on the well-being of rural children. To prevent such measures from compromising rural students’
access to education and their academic achievement, local governments should invest in student transportation, school
facilities, and teacher training and compensation to improve the quality of public schooling for rural children.
Besides boosting rural public schools, one other measure that can improve the well-being of rural children and redress the
rural-urban disparity is the provision of early childhood education for rural children. e short- and long-term benets
of preschool programs, especially for children from disadvantaged families, have been reported in the US and other
developed countries (Duncan & Magnuson, 2013). Local governments can improve the availability and aordability
of high quality kindergartens and nurseries by formulating licensing and operational standards of child care centers,
providing training to caregivers, and oering child care assistance to rural families. Rural children, especially those from
left-behind and single/no parent families, consistently lag behind their urban counterparts in the domains of family
environment and parental involvement. Due to income constraints and lower education of parents, rural children tend to
have much less cognitively stimulating home environments and parents with fewer positive parenting skills. High-quality
early childhood education programs that incorporate both cognitive and non-cognitive elements in their curriculum can
substitute for an enriched home environment and promote children’s cognitive and socio-emotional skills.
In addition to rural-urban gaps in academic achievement, we have noted developmental decits among rural children
in physical health and social-emotional well-being. For children who are left-behind by their parents and children
from single/no parent families, the needs for adequate health care and socio-emotional enrichment are especially acute.
However, China still lacks an integrated child welfare system with the resources and manpower to serve the various
needs of vulnerable children and families. We recommend that local governments in regions where vulnerable children
are concentrated set up an agency with professional personnel dedicated to coordinating the provision and delivery of
various services to these children and families. In recent years, there have been eorts in some rural communities to
assign a dedicated person, called a “child welfare supervisor,” to work with vulnerable children and their caregivers (China
Philanthropy Research Institute, 2013). Among the many duties of the child welfare supervisor are identifying children
and families with special needs, assisting them in obtaining necessary services from dierent agencies, and teaching
parents and caregivers proper parenting skills. Unfortunately, most of these child welfare workers in rural communities
do not have professional training in child development or social work. erefore, the children’s needs for social-emotional
competency are often not addressed. Besides intervention eorts in the rural communities, rural boarding schools are
another major setting where eective measures can be taken to meet the social-emotional needs of children. ese schools
should retain the services of social workers who are trained in school social work and student counseling. ey will not
only assist students with children’s social and emotional diculties but also make home visits to counsel caregivers in
proper parenting. Besides the service of school social workers, students in rural schools would also benet if universal
social-emotional learning programs are incorporated in their learning experiences (Durlak et al., 2011). Many such
programs have been successful in improving the social-emotional competencies of the students in the US.
Despite the broad coverage of our report on child well-being, we should note the limitations of the data and our report
ndings. First, some of the indicators such as BMI and low birthweight are based on caregiver reports that can be aected
by recall bias. Onsite measurements of children’s height and weight and birthweight from birth records should produce
more accurate information than caregiver reports. Second, we lack detailed information on some important aspects of
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46
child development and surroundings. We would like to have more data on children’s behavioral problems and their
experience of victimization in both home and school settings. We would also like the CFPS survey to collect additional
data on family functioning (such as domestic conicts) and on schools (such as class size and facilities).
CFPS is the only national survey data that collects detailed information on a representative sample of children in China.
is enables us to examine the well-being of children from dierent aspects and in multiple contexts. So far as we know,
this report is the most comprehensive in examining the well-being of the children in China. However, because this report
is based on the rst wave of CFPS data that was collected in 2010, its ndings may not be completely applicable to the
conditions of children today. Since CFPS is an ongoing longitudinal survey, it will be important to update the report
ndings with the latest CFPS data on child well-being. is will not only reveal the current conditions of children in
China but also demonstrate the temporal change in various aspects of child well-being.
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47
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