China's Left-Behind Children Caretaking, Parenting, and Struggles

"Written with scientific rigor and personal relevance, this insightful book provides us a systematic view of the lives and living spaces of China's left-behind children and their families. It diversifies and advances our understanding of family structure and parental care beyond the 'norms' of two-parent nuclear families. I recommend this book to all family scientists, practitioners, and policymakers." - Tong Liu (co-director of Yale-China Program on Child Development at Yale University) "Based on original survey data and interviews with rural migrant families, China's Left-Behind Children provides new insights into the drivers and effects of different childcare arrangements and of long-distance parenting practices on children's education, behaviour, emotional wellbeing, and ambiguous loss. This superb book appeals not only to scholars in China studies but also to sociologists of childhood, family, migration, and education who will appreciate the fresh take on topics such as digital communications, intimacy, grandparenting, school bonding, delinquency, and gender, and the author's keen eye to global comparisons."

- Rachel Murphy (author of The Children of China's Great Migration)