This article explores the Chinese phenomenon of left-behind children from a sociological perspective. It aims to examine the differences in the intra-familial division of labour and human capital in two groups of parents - those who have an experience of being a left-behind child and those who do not. Data collected through a survey of parents and in-depth interviews with parents conducted in China in 2021 are analysed. It is concluded that the model «men dominate the outside, women dominate the inside» is the most common for both types of the subjects of parental labour. However, there are differences in the prevalence of the family division of the labour model «men dominate the inside, women dominate the outside». The human capital of the subjects of parental labour who were previously left-behind children is generally lower than that of the subjects of parental labour who were not.