Childhood Left-Behind Experience and Equality of Life Chances in Emerging Adulthood

Although numerous studies have analyzed the ways in which migration influences the life chances of adult immigrants and social inequalities, the association of parental migration with the equality of life chances of left-behind children is unclear. These explorations are important for understanding how opportunity inequalities may evolve into health inequalities and how to promote the equal development of children. This study examined the association between the left-behind experience and the equality of life chances in emerging adulthood among a rural Chinese population. A total of 849 rural Chinese young adults completed questionnaires about the migration of their parents and their living conditions and were assigned to several groups according to gender and type of parents’ migration. With non-left-behind children as a reference group, the chance of first marriage was significantly higher for women in the absence of their fathers (HR = 2.56, 95% CI = 1.28–5.13; HR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.01–4.12) than for men (HR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.28–0.90; HR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.28–0.98). Both men (HR = 2.88, 95% CI = 1.39–5.93; HR = 1.80, 95% CI = 8.76) and women (HR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.09–2.20) had a significantly higher chance of achieving upward educational mobility in the absence of a mother. The chance of finding the first job remained statistically non-significant during the whole analysis. This study found that the childhood left-behind experience was partially associated with life chances in emerging adulthood among the Chinese rural population. These findings linked left-behind experiences in childhood to unequal chances in emerging adulthood. Thus, policy-makers should be encouraged to create an equal and fair social environment.