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Migration has affected a large number of children in many settings. Despite growing attention to these children, important gaps remain in our understanding of their psychosocial development, as well as the factors that mediate and moderate the impact of migration on children. The present study examines the influences of migration on children’s psychosocial well-being in China using a new nationally representative survey. We compared different groups of children age 3-15, including migrant children, left-behind children, and rural and urban children in nonmigrant families. Results show that rural children left behind by both parents were significantly worse off in psychological and behavioral well-being than rural nonmigrant children. By contrast, rural children left behind by one parent and migrant children were no worse off. The disadvantage of left-behind children was mediated by their caregivers’ emotional well-being and parenting practices. Frequent contact with migrant parents, but not receipt of remittances, helped ameliorate the vulnerability of left-behind children. These results add to our understanding of how migration affects child development in general.

What is the role of the schooling experience in the educational trajectories and outcomes of children exposed to risk? Maternal and family risks are associated with greater absenteeism and the cumulative exposure to risk best predicts chronic absenteeism in early schooling. Kindergarten children in contact with three or more risks missed three or more days than their peers not facing any risks. But as children progress through the elementary grades, the impact of cumulative risk on school attendance lessens, only to rise again in the fifth grade. The most vulnerable children — those who are poor or racial/ethnic minorities or suffer from poor health — have the greatest exposure to cumulative risk.

Building on previous analyses that revealed a significant level of absenteeism in the early school years, especially among low-income children, and confirmed its detrimental effects on school success, this second report in this series explores how maternal and family risks impact early school absenteeism. Using data from a nationally representative sample of kindergartners from across various incomes and race/ethnicity groups – the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Cohort)7, NCCP examines the prevalence of risk factors known to threaten young children’s healthy development and early school success. These include: poverty, teenage and/or single parenting, low levels of maternal education, receipt of welfare, unemployment, poor maternal health, food insecurity, and large family size – that is, four or more children at home. It also assesses the cumulative impact of early exposure to multiple risk factors, building on a large body of research showing that the more demographic and psycho-social risks children encounter, the more likely they are to experience poor developmental and school outcomes.

It has long been recognized that chronic absenteeism and school truancy in middle and high school are significant problems with highly visible negative consequences for youth, and ultimately, for their employability as adults. Little is known, however, about chronic school absenteeism among early elementary school students, as well as among children in preschool programs. This brief reveals a significant level of absenteeism in the early school years, especially among low-income children, and confirms its detrimental effects on school success by examining children from across various incomes and race/ethnicity groups in a nationally representative sample of children entering kindergarten—The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Cohort)—in 1998.