Paternal migration and children’s educational attainment and work activity: the case of Mexico
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Most of the research evaluating the import of paternal migration for children's outcomes has taken "left-behind children" as a single group. Such an approach does not take into account how family processes may intersect with migration processes. Taking a life course perspective, this paper distinguishes fathers' short-term and long-term migrations, as well as return migration, as they affect children's productive activities. Using the Mexican Family Life Survey (2002-2009), we followed school-aged children from two-parent households in 2002 and observed their activities as they transitioned into adulthood from 2005 through 2009. We found that fathers' short-term migration is negatively associated with children's labor force participation, especially for 12- to 18-year-old boys, suggesting that paternal migration may interrupt adolescent boys' labor market transition in the short-term. Fathers' long-term migration and return migration does not significantly alter children's activities. However, the negative role of fathers' long-term absence and benefits brought by the paternal migration trip are important mechanisms for educational persistence and the labor force entrance of 12- to 18-year-old girls, highlighting the conditions under which certain mechanisms may work. This suggests that migration is a family process, with the outcomes lying in the interplay of the stages of migration, children's life stages, and how gender is treated within cultural and familial contexts.
Source: Community Work & Family
Authors: Qian Song, Jennifer Glick
Language: English
Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3034091213