1 Photo: bbsweb.net Child Migration

2 Migration’s changing age structure: a field-building opportunity Project to synthesize existing information, explore potential opportunity for impact Research on child outcomes Research on migration Scholars Data Research

3 End Goals Future of Children volumes –Is there enough credible research ? Is there a foundation/need to forge a child centric migration agenda? –Practical and research How to sustain momentum? –Data needs and opportunities –Research and intervention agenda?

4 Synthesis Papers: Step # 1 Overall Objective To assess the state of knowledge about migrant youth and children in academic research about migrant youth and children in developing countries/industrialized countries (mainly but not limited to Europe)

5 Anticipated Outcomes Development of a framework matrix to conceptualize relevant research topics Review existing academic literature Assess available data to study child and youth migration Identify key researchers

6 Guiding Questions What topics have been explored most thoroughly and which remain understudied? Does adequate data exist to accurately evaluate the growing and changing roles of migrant youth? Who is doing the highest caliber research about migrant youth, and for which countries?

7 Child-Centric Questions How does migration influence well-being of children and youth? –Presumes modeling of the auspices of migration; –Comparison to nonmigrants How do migrant children and youth fare in their host countries? –Comparisons to nonmigrant youth at destination

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9 Migrant Youth in Developing Countries Andrea Rossi

10 ROSSI--Definitions Population: children & youth (0-18; 24) Types of Movement –Duration (temporary, permanent) –Spatial (internal, international) Child Centric Accompanied vs unaccompanied Second generation Foster arrangement Left behind (one or both parents) Voluntary/forced

11 Organization of Findings Migration types: (comparison groups) –Children Left Behind (non migrant youth?) –Forced Migration and Trafficking (??) –Migrant children in developing nations (host country youth?) Methodological challenges –Endogeneity of migration decision –Data limitations –Defining migration households

12 Children Left Behind via remittances 1. Child health: –Birth weight; underweight; infant mortality –Mechanisms: Social remittances + income 2. Educational outcomes –Drop out; enrollment duration –Mechanisms: income (+); child replacement for adult labor (-) –Comparison group: children of nonmigrants (selection?) –Mixed results: most positive, some negative (age dependent)

13 Children Left Behind via remittances 3. Youth labor force activity –Parent absence  child labor replacement –Market & family time reallocation –Effects depend on rural/urban residence 4. Socio-Emotional Costs –Underspecified, but presumed to be negative –Highly dependent on age at parent migration and duration

14 Children Left Behind 5. Gender and family structure –Can mediate the consequences of migration for young people via resource and time allocation – depends on which parent migrates and remits –If moms have a say in resource (remittance) allocation –Open questions: Parental time channel and child outcomes

15 Forced Migration Forced migrants and refugee youth – characterized as vulnerable youth but no systematic empirical evidence Victims of trafficking: –mainly qualitative data

16 Migrant Children in LDC’s Destination countries : stock and age composition of foreign born (though no indication of numbers) Impacts : 1.Health 2.Education 3.Economic activity 4.Psycho-social

17 Migrant Children in LDCs 1.Health impacts Survival advantages but mechanisms not always clear (rural/urban) Migration for health care, though speculative Migration and health risks: ambiguous, depending on conditions at origin and destination and auspices of migration

18 Migrant Children in LDCs 2. Education Outcomes –Sparse empirical evidence for LDC’s –Discussion of hypothetical links and appropriate comparison groups 3. Employment Outcomes –Sparse empirical evidence for child labor in LDCs; suggestive case studies, but no meta analysis –Most studies focus on older age groups (e.g. McKenzie)

19 Migrant Children in LDCs 4. Psycho-Social Impacts –Greatest dearth of information; hypothetical channels for outcomes –Disruption effects –(Non) Adaptation [cultural conflict]

20 Challenges for Child Centric Migration Research Data: –Migration questions in ongoing surveys –Migration context: family vs. individual (child) Estimation and counterfactuals –Endogeneity of migration decision –Relevant reference groups and comparisons

21 Conceptual Considerations 1. Migrant children and youth –Youth as category of all migrants vs. migrants as a category of all youth? –Definition refinements—e.g., 2 nd generation – International vs. internal migrants—do outcomes differ? 2. Age – profiles of migration more informative than migrant stock figures –Timing of migration crucial for assessing outcomes

22 Conceptual Considerations 3. Decision unit: “Bring back the family” –Why do children migrate? (tied, autonomous, forced) –How does the family figure in the decisions for youth/child migration? –How to represent the family/household for conceptualizing child/youth migration decision-making?

23 Findings and Questions

24 Migration Family Structure Child Welfare Remittances