Environmental Regulations and Left-behind Children

Environmental regulation is the enactment of a series of laws and regulations by the government that require companies or individuals to reduce emissions of hazardous substances and greenhouse gases. This study finds that strong implementation of environmental regulatory policies may increase the number of children left behind. The intrinsic mechanism may be that the policy forces enterprises to adjust in their business strategies, which increases the uncertainty of the life and employment of migrant workers and leads to their tendency to keep their children in their hometowns. This study utilizes data from the China Industrial Enterprise Database, China Urban Statistical Yearbook, China Family Tracking Survey (CFPS), China Migrant Population Dynamics Survey (CMDS), and China Labor Dynamics Survey (CLDS). The study employs regression models to conduct econometric analyses, illustrating the positive correlation between the effectiveness of urban environmental regulation policies and the prevalence of left-behind children. It is hoped that more thoughts will be brought to the left-behind children issue.