Family income volatility among Chinese children, 2010–2018

A stable economic environment in a family lays the foundation for children’s healthy development, and income volatility is a key indicator of family economic (in)stability. Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study investigates exposure to family income volatility and its social determinants for Chinese children during the period 2010–2018. The results show that Chinese children experienced high levels of family income volatility during 2010–2018, and childhood exposure to income volatility in China is closely related to both family socioeconomic characteristics and structural factors. Specifically, children from low-income families, with less-educated and non-state-sector-employed parents, and holding a rural hukou (household registration) are more likely to experience childhood economic instability. Given that children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families already face challenges associated with constrained socioeconomic resources, the fact that they are also more likely to live in a precarious economic environment may put them at a double disadvantage in early life.