What happens to children's education when their parents emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka

Sarma, Vengadeshvaran; Parinduri, Rasyad

doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.11.007

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…A rapidly growing body of literature has produced mixed findings on the impact of parental migration on left-behind children in South America, China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa (Viet Nguyen 2016; Graham and Jordan 2011;Adhikari et al 2014;Sarma and Parinduri 2016). On one hand, parental labor out-migration is likely to be accompanied by an increase in economic resources of the family; this may be beneficial to the wellbeing of the children (Frank 2005;Frank and Hummer 2002;Kanaiaupuni and Donato 1999;Lu and Treiman 2011;Yang 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China

2017

Soc Indic Res

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As a result of China's rural-urban bifurcation, millions of rural Chinese children grow up in the absence of one or both parents due to work migration. Contrary to the dismal picture of left-behind children that is depicted by the mass media, comparative studies based on large-scale survey data suggest that left-behind children do not fare worse than those who live with both parents. Researchers have suggested that the positive effects of remittance might outweigh the negative effects of parental absence, and this explains why there is little total effect of parental migration on children's wellbeing. This, however, does not explain why left-behind children are doing equally well as non-left-behind children in nearly all aspects of life, some of which are affected more by parental care than by economic resources. This paper aims to explore what factors contribute to the all-round resilience of rural left-behind adolescents. Mixed methods were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from adolescents, caregivers, and school teachers from a migrant-sending community in central China. Data analyses reveal that adolescent interpretation of parental migration is deeply embedded in Chinese values on education and ideals of mutual responsibilities among family members, and that a positive understanding of parental motivation for labor migration and commitment to education are significant contributors to the resilience displayed by left-behind adolescents. The heterogeneities in the reaction of left-behind adolescents to parental migration demonstrate that the positive perception of parental migration is not a stand-alone protective factor.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China

2017

Soc Indic Res

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“…Additionally, a constellation of factors may moderate the impact of parental migration and associated remittances on children's educational outcomes. Sarma and Parinduri (2016), for example, argue that migration's advantages are not necessarily experienced by low-income families, as the process of migration is expensive and remittances are primarily used to cover expenses associated with migration's cost. The "success of migration" is, thus, a critical factor in determining whether fathers' migration is beneficial for children's education (Yabiku and Agadjanian 2017).…”

Section: Parental Migration and Education Of Left-behind Children: A Review Of The Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Left-behind children complete more years of schooling and enter the workforce later in life (Koska et al 2013; Intemann and Katz 2014). Remittances provide access to quality schools and private coaching (Sarma and Parinduri 2016), generating better educational outcomes for left-behind children (Hugo and Ukwatta 2010; Arif et al 2018). Moreover, when financial distress is reduced within households, there is less need for child labor, enabling left-behind children to enroll or remain enrolled in schools (Kuhn 2006).…”

Section: Parental Migration and Education Of Left-behind Children: A ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ Migration and Academic Achievement among Left-behind Children in India: Evidence of Continuity and Change in Gender Preferences

Vikram

2021

International Migration Review

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This article examines the link between paternal migration and children’s arithmetic and reading achievement, using the 2005 and 2012 waves of the national India Human Development Survey (IHDS). Additionally, it investigates if fathers’ migration is associated with increased investments in children’s education and time spent on educational activities. Using propensity score matching, this article finds that fathers’ current and long-term migration, defined as being a migrant in both IHDS waves, is positively associated with children’s education. However, the benefits of paternal migration are experienced more frequently by sons than by daughters. Sons of migrant fathers demonstrate higher reading and arithmetic achievement, benefit from higher education expenditure, and spend more time on educational activities than sons of non-migrant fathers. Daughters of migrant fathers exhibit higher reading skills and receive higher investments in education but are no different from daughters of non-migrant fathers in time spent on educational activities and arithmetic achievement. These results suggest a gendered process at play in remittance utilization, with sons experiencing a more robust remittance effect. Nevertheless, it is promising to note that daughters also gain from the economic and social remittances received by left-behind families in a modernizing India.

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“…For left‐behind children, parental migration may on the one hand improve their well‐being through remittances sent home or on the other, have adverse effects on their lives because of the absence of primary carers (Battistella & Conaco, ; Jia & Tian, ; Lam, Ee, Hoang, & Yeoh, ; Nguyen, Yeoh, & Toyota, ). While a significant share of the scholarship has centred on the impact of parental migration on the children (see, e.g., Adhikari et al, ; Sarma & Parinduri, ; Sun et al, ; C. C. Zhou et al, ), an emerging theme is beginning to focus on exploring children's experiences and perspectives of being left behind (Lam et al, ). This literature has given attention to children's voices and revealed the role—however limited—children play in their family's migration projects (Graham et al, ; Hoang et al, ; Hoang & Yeoh, ; Parreñas, ).…”

Section: Children Migration and Agency: A Brief Review Of The Existmentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial introduction: Situated agency in the context of research on children, migration, and family in Asia

Choi

Yeoh

Lam

2018

Population Space and Place

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Given far less attention than adult members in the burgeoning migration scholarship, children (and their parents) are brought to the foreground in this themed section as agentic subjects whose lives are linked to and impacted by migration processes operating across borders. In tandem with this focus, this special‐themed section situates the agency of children and their parents within broader socio‐economic structures of regional inequalities, local economic stagnation and cross‐border demand for low‐waged labour, state policy failures, ethnic group disparities, technological advances that facilitate cross‐border mobility, and the transnational performance of familyhood. By incorporating children's relationships with people and places nearby and afar and situating their agency within broader socio‐economic and political contexts, we hope that the analytical framework of “situated agency” developed in this themed section will encourage more studies linking macro structures with micro interpersonal dynamics and actions in growing Asia‐based research related to migration and mobility across space and place.

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What happens to children's education when their parents emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka

Cited by 10 publications

References 17 publications

“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China

“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China

Fathers’ Migration and Academic Achievement among Left-behind Children in India: Evidence of Continuity and Change in Gender Preferences

Editorial introduction: Situated agency in the context of research on children, migration, and family in Asia

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