Are non-left-behind children really not left behind? The impact of village migration on children's health outcomes in rural China.

With rapid urbanization and industrialization, a large number of rural residents have migrated to urban areas for work, increasing the proportion of migration in rural villages. Previous studies have typically examined the direct effect of parental migration, while we provide the first evidence for the spillover effects of village migration on the health outcomes of non-left-behind children. The results from an instrumental variable analysis show a sizable adverse effect of exposure to village migration on the health outcomes of non-left-behind children. We examine the role of unhealthy peers, poor parental health behaviours, poor village healthcare infrastructure, and unbalanced human capital structure at the village level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]