ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the significance of our study of child well-being in China by pointing out the multiple adversities facing various groups of vulnerable children in China, including rural children in general, and rural left-behind children and migrant children in urban areas, and the limitations of previous studies. Then we describe the rich data source of our study, the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), with its battery of development outcome variables and a wealth of individual, family and community contextual information. We then provide the table of descriptive statistics of the children by their rural and urban residence, and by six types of family configuration based on the status of parental absence and rural and urban community residence, the two crucial factors impacting the developmental outcomes of children.
