Migration, Remittances and Education: A Review of the Educational Performance of Left-behind Children in Rural China

Abstract: The massive rural-urban population flow has been proceeding in China for decades ever since the 1980s. Millions of labor migrants move to industrialized cities for a better future for themselves, as well as their families. The increasing amount of migrants has led to the phenomenon of the “left-behind”. Among the left-behind group, left-behind children seem to be at a relatively vulnerable situation. These children are living without parental care and are seen by previous scholars as negatively affected. This research is aimed to examine the impacts of parental migration on left-behind children’s educational performance. The New Economics theory, human capital theory, cultural capital theory and the concept of intersectionality will be applied to analyze and discuss how economic and social remittances influence the education of the children. This study is designed as a qualitative study that is based on literature review and uses meta-ethnography. The study explores the roles and limitations of remittances in making a conductive environment for left-behind children’s educational performance, and the impacts of other determinants within and beyond the household level. The study finds out that left-behind children’s educational performance is affected by remittances, and also intersects with family arrangements, gender and age, and school facilities.