Home Literacy Environment of Rural-to-Urban Migrant Children with Different Length of Urban Residence: Disparities and the Effect of SES and Parental Expectation

Given the textile sector’s reliance on migrant labor, this study employs a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design to investigate socioeconomic disparities in the Home Literacy Environment between rural-to-urban migrant and urban resident families in China, focusing on the roles of SES, parental expectations, and urban residency duration. Quantitative data from 285 families revealed that RUM children's HLE, particularly in parent-directed activities, was significantly inferior to that of their UR peers even after controlling for SES. While a longer urban residence was associated with improvements in parent-directed activities, it did not significantly enhance child-directed activities or home literacy resources. A key finding was that PE, rather than SES, emerged as the primary predictor of both parent- and child-directed literacy activities, though both factors significantly influenced home literacy resources. Qualitative interviews with RUM parents triangulated these results, revealing that high PE can motivate parents to adopt compensatory strategies and partially offset the limitations of low SES, yet structural barriers like the Hukou system persistently hinder their efforts. The study concludes that interventions must address both resource disparities and structural inequalities to effectively support the literacy development of migrant children. The findings offer practical insights for textile enterprises to enhance corporate social responsibility (CSR) by supporting the family well-being and child development of their migrant employees.