Demographic Research publication 53-30 "Childhood left-behind experiences and premarital cohabitation: Evidence from China" by Junhao Kou and Yutong Li (doi:10.4054/DemRes.2025.53.30)


****Accessing the data (China Family Panel studies)****
The CFPS does not permit researchers to upload either the full dataset or any selected/regenerated subsets to third-party platforms. However, the CFPS is accessible to all qualified researchers. Interested users may visit the official website (https://cfpsdata.pku.edu.cn/#/home). After registration and login, click on “Data Center” and access the folder “Public Data”, where the required datasets can be downloaded.

****Waves Used****
2010 baseline, and follow-up waves from 2014 to 2022

****Sample****
Main regression: Respondents born after 1978.
Robustness check: Respondents born after 1990.

****variables Used and Their Description****
Dependent variable: Premarital cohabitation
Based on the question: “Since two years ago, what was the start date (year, month) of the first/second… up to fourth cohabitation?”, we extract the variables eeb601y_a_1, eeb601y_a_2, eeb601y_a_3, eeb601y_a_4 from the 2014–2022 waves.
If the earliest cohabitation experience occurred before the first marriage year (qe605y) and after age 18 (eeb601y_a_1…4 – cfps_birthy ≥ 18), the respondent is coded as having experienced premarital cohabitation.

****Independent variable: Left-behind experiences****
Based on the questions: “Before age 3, how many weeks was the father continuously away from home?”; “Before age 3, how many weeks was the mother continuously away from home?”; “Between ages 4–12, how many weeks was the father continuously away?”; “Between ages 4–12, how many weeks was the mother continuously away?” We extract the variables qa303, qa403, qa304, qa404.
If either parent was absent from home for more than six months in any stage, the respondent is classified as having had a left-behind experience.

****Control variables****
Gender
qa1y: birth year
qa302: hukou at age 3
qa402: hukou at age 12
Hukou migration: (qa302 ≠ qa402)
qa102acode: birth region
qa301acode: region at age 3
qa401acode: region at age 12
Regional migration: (region at age 3 ≠ region at age 12)
qc1: educational attainment
feduc: father’s educational attainment
meduc: mother’s educational attainment
qb301_a_1 ~ qb301_a_15: number of older siblings

****Software****
Stata 18.0

****list and description of each file in .zipformat****
1 Stata program file to merge data
	MergeData.do
2 Stata program file of variables creation and baseline analysis
	CreateVariables&BaselineAnalysis.do
3 Stata program file to analyse the different effects across left-behind periods, across parental migration types and by genders
	Timing&ParentalMigTypes&Gender.do