Mar 3, 2012

Family Left Behind

What is the impact of migration on family left behind? Francisca Antman looks at this question in a book chapter (February 2012). The abstract:
This paper addresses the effects of migration on families left behind and offers new evidence on the impact of migration on elderly parents. After discussing the identification issues involved in estimation, I review the literature on the effects of migration on the education and health of non-migrant children as well as the labor supply of non-migrant spouses. Finally, I address the impact of adult child migration on contributions toward non-migrant parents as well as the effects on parental health. Results show that elderly parents receive lower time contributions from all of their children when one child migrates.
The chapter presents a literature review and a case study. It ends with suggestions for future research. 
The questions has been explored regarding internal migration in China and its effects on children left behind. The study by Wen and Lin (February 2012) indicates: "[L]eft-behind children were disadvantaged in health behavior and school engagement but not in perceived satisfaction." In contrast, a paper by Bennett, Clifford, and Falkingham (January 2012) finds a positive long-term effect from parental migration and children's school enrollment in Tajikistan.  
One can think in some questions:
  1. Do children left behind tend to migrate later in life?
  2. How do children left behind do in the labor market later in life?
  3. Is criminal behavior relatively more or less prevalent among children left behind later in their lives?

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