Maternal migration patterns and child development from infancy to early adolescence: a longitudinal study in rural China

• Persistent maternal migration harms LBC’s cognitive development and BMI. • Early-age maternal migration has long-term negative effects on LBC development. • Return migration shows no significant effect on LBC’s cognitive outcomes. • Both persistent and return migration negatively affect parenting practices. • Persistent migration significantly reduces children’s dietary diversity. The massive flow of migrants from rural to urban areas in China over the past decades has sparked concerns about the development of left-behind children. Drawing on a six-round, longitudinal cohort survey in rural China from 2013 to 2023 that follows children from 6 months to 11 years of age, we analyse the effects of two maternal migration patterns – persistent migration (migration without return) and return migration (migration followed by return) – on the cognitive development and nutrition of left-behind children from infancy to early adolescence. The results show that persistent maternal migration has adverse effects on the cognitive development and increased the BMI of left-behind children. In contrast, maternal migration had no significant effect on either cognitive development or any indicator of nutrition when the mother later returned. Persistent maternal migration had a strong, long-term negative effect on the cognitive development of left-behind children especially when mothers migrate within one or one and a half years after childbirth; maternal migration also had a short-term, negative effect on cognitive development when mothers migrate when the child is between 2 and 3 years old. These effects are likely driven by the lower levels of stimulating parenting practices and dietary diversity provided by the stand-in primary caregivers of left-behind children.