Abstract
In rural China around 60 million left-behind children (LBC) experience prolonged separation from migrant worker parents. They are vulnerable to a range of psychosocial problems. The aim of this study was to determine whether a community-based intervention consisting of Children’s Centres can improve psychosocial well-being and school performance of these children. The intervention was carried out in 20 villages, for children aged 7 to 15 years, irrespective of left-behind status. Nine hundred and twenty children, 438 LBC and 256 children living with parents (RC) attended the Centres. At follow-up after one year, there were improvements compared to baseline in total difficulties (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) in children left behind by both parents (p = 0.009), children left behind by one parent (p = 0.008) and RC (p = 0.05). Postintervention school performance significantly improved in both categories of LBC (p < 0.001), but not RC (p = 0.07); social support score increased in both categories of LBC (p < 0.001) and RC (p = 0.01). Findings from interviews with key stakeholders were overwhelmingly positive about the impacts. With strong local leadership and community motivation, a low-cost intervention can improve children’s psychosocial well-being in these settings. Allowing communities to adapt the model to their own situation fosters local ownership, commitment, with benefits for children, parents, carers, and communities.
Highlights
In recent decades, migration has increased markedly in many parts of the world, with profound impacts for family structures and the home communities of migrants [1]
The primary driver of migration is the desire for improved socioeconomic circumstances and opportunities [2], but it often leads to separation between family members, leading to particular concerns about children separated from migrant parents for prolonged periods, often many years [3]
The primary aim of our study was to establish whether a community-based intervention could improve psychosocial well-being and academic performance of left-behind children” (LBC) and rural children living with parents (RC). (While our original proposal was aimed at LBC, a preliminary survey, showed that there were small and inconsistent differences between LBC and rural children across a range of well-being measures, so to carry out an intervention to benefit only LBC was clearly unethical, and impractical)
Summary
Migration has increased markedly in many parts of the world, with profound impacts for family structures and the home communities of migrants [1]. The widely-adopted definition for these so-called “left-behind children” (LBC) is children under 18 separated from one or both parents for at least six months. Using this definition, global estimates run to the hundreds of millions, accounting for around 40% of children in rural South Africa, 36% in Ecuador, and 27% in the Philippines [4]. Parental migration affects child wellbeing through a trade-off between increased family income and disrupted parental care [6]. There is a large literature about the impacts of separation
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