Social Capital, Family Support, Resilience and Educational Outcomes of Chinese Migrant Children

Drawing upon a sample of 806 migrant children in Beijing, China, this study investigated how community social capital, family social support, and children's resilience influenced multiple educational outcomes of Chinese migrant children. Results of structural equation modelling with latent variables suggested that higher levels of resilience were associated with better educational outcomes of migrant children, including more effort put into study, higher educational aspiration, and less intention to drop out of school. Children's resilience also mediated the effects of family social support and community social capital on educational outcomes. Family social support was predictive of migrant children's academic effort and drop-out plan, but not of their educational aspiration. Unexpectedly, community social capital was predictive of a higher intention of dropping out of school, despite its positive influences on all three educational outcomes through its significant effect on children's resilience. Implications of these findings for theory, social work practice and social policy are discussed.