Work

The impact of parental labour migration on left‐behind children's educational and psychosocial outcomes: Evidence from Romania

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Many children grow up with parents working abroad. Social scientists are interested in the scholastic achievement and health of these left‐behind children, in order to better understand the positive and negative aspects of migration for the families in the sending countries. This paper examines the causal effects of parents' migration on the education, physical, and mental health of left‐behind children aged 11 to 15 years in Romania, a country where increasingly more children have parents working abroad. Using data from a unique representative survey carried out in 2007, instrumental variable and bivariate probit estimates have been performed. The paper finds evidence for a significant positive effect of parental migration on children's school performance (reflected in higher grades) and a higher probability of suffering from depression and having health problems more frequently. The study furthermore demonstrates that living in transnational families is more harmful for girls and for those from rural areas.

Source: Population Space and Place

DOI: 10.1002/psp.2277

Authors: Alina Botezat, Friedhelm Pfeiffer

Institutions: Romanian Academy, Centre for European Economic Research, University of Mannheim

Language: English

Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: Jacobs Foundation, Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft