How does Urban-to-Urban Migration of Youth Affect the Health of Left-Behind Parents? Evidence from China

This paper examines the impact of children’s urban-to-urban migration on their parents’ health. Our findings indicate that children’s urban-to-urban migration significantly reduces the self-assessed health ratings of left-behind parents, increases the incidence of chronic diseases, and elevates levels of depression among them. However, there is no evidence of impacts on the left-behind parents’ activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, or memory functions. The overall decline in the parental health is mainly caused by the absence of daily care and emotional comfort, while the achievements of children may mitigate this negative shock to some extent. In addition, economic support provided by children’s urban-to-urban migration does not significantly impact parental health, which is related to the higher asset endowment possessed by urban parents. Furthermore, the negative impact of daughters’ urban-to-urban migration on parents is primarily reflected in physical health, while that of sons is mainly reflected in mental health. Additionally, the negative impact of urban-to-urban migration on the health of left-behind parents is more pronounced in the sub-samples of children who are financially dependent on their parents and left-behind parents with lower assets.