Migrant Children's Education and Psychological Wellbeing in Urban China

China’s rapid urbanisation has given rise to tens of millions of rural‐to‐urban migrant children who face distinctive educational and psychosocial challenges. Excluded by the hukou household registration system, many of these children attend under-resourced private “migrant schools” or struggle for places in local public schools. Disparities in teacher quality, funding and curricular provision contribute to lower academic attainment and reduced opportunities for progression to key secondary schools. Simultaneously, migrant children encounter social barriers, including perceived discrimination, limited peer networks and a sense of relative deprivation that can undermine self-esteem and amplify loneliness, anxiety or depressive symptoms. While some large cities have introduced inclusive policies to improve access and welfare, outcomes remain uneven. Emerging evidence emphasises the role of psychological capital—including resilience, hope, optimism and self-efficacy—in mediating the impact of structural inequities on social integration and mental health. Holistic interventions at the individual, community and policy levels are increasingly recognised as essential to foster both educational equity and psychological wellbeing, with implications for social cohesion and human capital formation on a national scale.

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Migrant Children's Education and Psychological Wellbeing in Urban China publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in migrant children's education and psychological wellbeing in urban china across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Hukou system: China’s household registration mechanism restricting entitlement to local public services, including schooling and healthcare.

Psychological capital: A positive psychological state composed of self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience that supports mental wellbeing and adaptation.

Children’s Loneliness Scale (CLS): A standardized instrument for assessing subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation in children.

Acculturation: The process through which migrant children adapt to a new cultural and social environment, balancing heritage and host-city cultures.

Migrant schools: Privately or community-run educational institutions serving children without local hukou status, often characterised by limited resources.

Social integration: The degree to which migrant children participate in and feel belonging to urban peer networks, schools and broader society.

References

1. Educational Inequity and Skill Formation Differences Experienced by Floating Rural Students in the Process of Urbanization: A Case Study from a School Perspective. Education Sciences (2023).
2. Declining Time‐Trend in Loneliness Levels Among Migrant Children in Urban China, 2006−2019: A Cross‐Temporal Meta‐Analysis of 40 Studies Published From 2006 to 2022. Depression and Anxiety (2024).
3. Association between Urban Educational Policies and Migrant Children’s Social Integration in China: Mediated by Psychological Capital. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2023).