We analyze two complementary household datasets from China’s poor areas to examine
how migration affects the rural poor in China. We find an inverted-U shape relationship
between household endowments and migration likelihood. Estimates of the effect of
migration on household income per capita range from 8.5 to 13.1 percent, but the impact
on poverty is small because most of the poor do not migrate. Migrants remit a large share
of incomes and are somewhat responsive to the needs of other family members.