Abstract
This paper investigates the relationship between family structure and high school enrollment among adolescents ages 17-18 in the context of large-scale labor migration. Analysis of China's 2000 Census data reveals a significant educational gap across (1) family types and (2) living arrangements within each family type. Children of two-parent families are better off than those of divorced families, widowed families, stepfamilies, and no-parent families; children of two-parent families but living with only the mother are better at school enrollment than those from single-father and widowed-mother families. These findings reflect the strong correlation between family structure and adolescents' degree of education beyond the compulsory level in contemporary China. The results are somewhat inconsistent with those of relevant studies in developed and developing settings. Because high school education plays an important role for individual socioeconomic mobility, the disadvantages faced by children of single-father and widowed-mother families are likely to have detrimental and long-term consequences for the children, the family, and society.
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