From “left-behind children” to “migrant”: the long-lasting impact of left-behind experience on the mental health of new-generation migrant workers

Rongge Zhao, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhongshan Yue, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Weidong Li, Shaanxi Normal University
Shuzhuo Li, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Most of the new-generation of migrant workers have the experience from left-behind children to migrant, but previous research has paid less attention to the impact of left-behind(LB) experience on their mental health(MH). Using data from the Left-behind Experience Survey (2021), this paper aims to analyze the long-lasting impact of LB experience on the MH of new-generation migrant workers and its influence mechanism based on the Life Course Theory and the Cumulative Disadvantage Theory. Results indicated that: (1) LB experience has a long-lasting negative impact on the MH of new-generation migrant workers. (2) Both parents going out has a greater impact on their MH than that of a single parent going out. (3) The longer the LB experience lasts, the worse MH of new-generation migrant workers. (4) Their MH mainly depends on when LB experience ends, rather than when it begins. The earlier the experience ends, the better their MH, that is, "time heals pain". (5) Mechanism analysis shows that LB experience affects the MH through the chain mediation of parent-child relationship and psychological capital. After using propensity score matching to deal with endogeneity, the long-lasting impact effect still exits

Keywords: Internal Migration and Urbanization, Longitudinal studies , Population and Development, Children, Adolescents, and Youth

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