The Effects of Parental Migrant Work Experience on Labor Market Performance of Rural-Urban Migrants: Evidence from China

Abstract

With the development of China’s economy and the deepening of urbanization, the number of migrants whose parents have migrant work experience continues to rise. However, what is the long-term impact of parental migrant work experience on migrant children? Existing literature has not yet adequately answered. Based on the data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2016–2017, this article uses a multiple linear regression model to examine the impact of parental migrant work experience on the income of rural-urban migrants and its impact mechanism and heterogeneity empirically. We find that parental migrant work experience has a positive impact on the monthly income of second-generation rural-urban migrants. Specifically, compared with those whose parents had no such experience, the average monthly income of those whose parents had such experience increased significantly by 3.08% (approximately 124 yuan), and this effect was more apparent when fathers had migrant work experience. The main influencing channel comes from the significant increase in the probability of rural-urban migrants choosing self-employment. The results of the heterogeneity analysis showed that this effect was more significant in the sample of males and those with high school education and below. After a series of robustness tests, these conclusions remain valid. This work enriches the corresponding research literature and provides empirical evidence for studying the long-term effects of parents’ early experiences on their children.