Parental migration and young migrants’ wages in urban China: An exploratory analysis

Since the initiation of the economic reforms in 1978, generations of Chinese migrants have moved from the countryside to cities to seek job opportunities. As a result of financial constraints and institutional obstacles, many migrants leave their children at the place of origin, to be taken care of by partners, grandparents or other caregivers. Whilst previous studies primarily focus on the impacts of parental migration on children’s education and health, very few studies have examined its longer-term impacts on labour market income when children reach adulthood. Yet parental migration is likely to influence children’s human capital accumulation and skill development. Drawing on data from the 2011 Chinese Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey, this article fills the gap by exploring the relationship between different types of parental migration and their children’s wages when the children have grown up and migrated to work in cities. Structural models are employed to estimate both education and wage equations simultaneously to capture the direct effect of parental migration on wages, together with the mediating effect of education. The results show significantly negative relationships between parental migration and young migrants’ educational attainment and wages. Those who experienced the out-migration of both parents are most disadvantaged in the urban labour market. The study is important for policies aimed at improving migrants’ life prospects and enhancing social mobility and equality.