Abstract
BackgroundAccording to China’s 2010 population census, 38.81 million children migrated from rural to urban areas in Mainland China, a phenomenon that has attracted much scholarly attention. Due to the lack of quantitative synthesis of migrant children’s developmental outcomes, we undertook a meta-analysis to compare their developmental outcomes with those of their urban counterparts.MethodsWe searched Applied Social Sciences Index and s (ASSIA), Australian Education Index, British Education Index, ERIC, ProQuest Education Journals, PsycINFO, Social Services s, Family & Society Studies Worldwide, Medline, Women’s Studies International databases and the Chinese CNKI database to identify relevant studies. Studies reporting physical and mental health outcomes of migrant children as well as potential protective and risk factors of child developmental outcomes were included. We assessed study quality using a quality assessment checklist.ResultsWe selected 25 studies from a total of 1592. Our results reveal that migrant children in public schools present significantly greater mental health problems and lower well-being than their urban counterparts, while migrant children in migrant schools do not present significantly different outcomes. In addition, migrant children were found to be more likely to be exposed to physical health risks due to limited utilization of health services. The disadvantageous health outcomes of migrant children were found to be related to a series of individual and social factors, including academic performance, social relationships, and discrimination.ConclusionsMigrant children are disadvantaged by the sociocultural circumstances in urban areas. Government should target them and provide appropriate support in order to improve their developmental status, which will have a positive impact on the stability and development of society.
Highlights
According to China’s 2010 population census, 38.81 million children migrated from rural to urban areas in Mainland China, a phenomenon that has attracted much scholarly attention
We address four major questions: 1) Are migrant children at higher risk of physical health problems compared to their urban counterparts? 2) Do migrant children have more mental health problems than their urban counterparts? 3) Does public school attendance play a protective role for the well-being of migrant children? 4) What are the protective/risk factors of mental health outcomes for all migrant children regardless of the school type?
Two reviewers retrieved and independently screened full-text copies of articles based on four inclusion criteria: 1) studies must be a cross-sectional, case control, or panel study; 2) studies must be quantitative with a sample equal to or larger than 30; 3) studies must focus on the health outcomes of school-age children who are affected by parental migration; and 4) studies must report either rates or raw data for health problems or risks to enable their calculation
Summary
According to China’s 2010 population census, 38.81 million children migrated from rural to urban areas in Mainland China, a phenomenon that has attracted much scholarly attention. According to the 2000 census, 64 % of the heads of migrant families migrated with their spouses, and 61 % of migrant workers lived with their children in urban areas [6]. Migrant parents expect their children to be able to access better educational and developmental resources in urban areas so that they can improve their quality of life. This paper will focus on internal migration after 1979, since it is only after that point that migration became a significant issue
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