Left-Behind Children: The Nurturing Dilemma Under the Functional Division of Rural Families

“Left-behind children” are a product of China’s specific political background and economic environment. Under China’s dual economic structure, the traditional family function is divided in the process of labor transfer, leading to the spatial separation of production and education. Under this social background, a special group of left-behind children has emerged. In the context of economic development in the past two decades, especially in the past decade, rural left-behind children in China have become an enormous, disadvantaged group. Moreover, learning problems, life problems, and psychological problems have attracted widespread attention from experts, scholars, and society.