Comparative study of life quality between migrant children and local students in small and medium-sized cities in China

Every child deserves a fair chance in life. However, migrant children are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. The problem of migrant children who have left their hukou registration place for 6 months or longer with their parents from rural areas to cities in China has become a unique social issue in the social transformation of China. However, even up to this day, little is known about life satisfaction of migrant children in small and medium-sized cities. To investigate the current situation of migrant children’s life satisfaction, several scales including Chinese Adolescent Students’ Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, Social Economic Status Scale, Social Support Rating Scale and big five inventory were used to obtain data on 142 migrant children and 165 local primary school students. Results showed that migrant children’s life satisfaction was significantly lower when compared to local non-migrant students. The study also highlighted that subjective and objective support, utilization of support, conscientiousness and parent’s educational level were predictive factors of life satisfaction. Migrant children’ life satisfaction was not optimistic and social support was significantly influencing factors of migrant children’s life satisfaction, so they need a support system of government, school, community, family to help them through difficulties.