Understanding the psychological well-being of children left behind : The case of the Austro Region in Ecuador Ana Rivas and Germán Calfat Arnoldshain Seminar XI June , Antwerp, Belgium

Outline Background Children as unit of analysis Key concepts Empirical strategy Data Methodology Estimation Results ( Preliminary) Concluding remarks

Background MigDev: Institutional cooperation between Flemish Universities (VLIR) and the Univ. of Cuenca in Ecuador Research objective: Explore the economic and social impact of migration on local development (The Austro region ), Information challenge: Available sources of information (e.g. Census, LSMS) limited the opportunities to accomplish project’s main goals. Design of a Monitoring impact migration mechanism (MIMM)  MIMM survey

Background (2) MIMM Human capital Return migration Social remitta nces Health and nutrition Vulnerab ility

Children as unit of analysis There is little research on the impact on children’s psychological wellbeing. Related literature:  Aspirations /expectations of students ( Bohnme, M. (2012); Dreby, J. and Stutz, Lindsay ( 2012)  Emotional, behaviour factors ( Asian region: Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand) Local context: Available studies examine this issue relying on qualitative approaches with very limited samples. Figures from MIMM survey :  Children population (<18) : 992\  Accounts 32% urban population  12% are children left behind  76% attend school  Migrant parents 90% of migrants parents are “illegal” workers, performing low skills jobs in US.

Key concepts Two basic concepts:  Education aspirations : the desire to attain a specific level (grade) of education based on his(her) present and future perspectives.  Dembo (1931/1976); Qualia, R. & Cobb, C. (1976)  Indicator of psychological well-being : Account for child’s hyperactivity, peer relations, emotional and behavioural factors (Goodman R. (1996))

Empirical strategy Aims : Investigate what factors account for and explain educational aspirations of children left behind. Explore to what extent the parental absence impact the psychological health of the children left behind Data Sources of information MMIM : Information from HH Schools: Basic information on student’s population + student’s school performance, PEACH : Self reported : emotional and behavioural difficulties, positive attitudes (strengths), future goals, views on migration, family migration histories Parents /tutors : aspirations and expectations on their children’s education, Teachers : problems and difficulties endured by each of the students

Educational aspirations Model: Child_ch  Child characteristics (gender, age, ed. level); Family_facts  situational family factors ( parents living apart, migrant parents, HH with remittances); well-being indicator fut_persp  future migratory perspectives (desire country and motivation), Demog  demographic controls (rural/urban)

Child well-being Model Child_ch  Child characteristics ( gender, age, ed.level) Caregive_fact  set of variables typifying caregiving in transnational context (e.g migrant: mom, caregiver: dad,) par_cfact  Indicator for child communication with parents (based on frequency), length of parent absence, Demog  demographic factors (urban/rural, wealth proxy)

Methodology Variables of interest are categorical  Ordered logit Educational aspiration Indicator of well being Five (05) categories : 1= Basic education (1-10 ) 2= Bachillerato. (1-3) 3= No Uniiversity/Technical Edu. 4= University 5= Postgraduate studies (e.g. master.) Three (03 ) categories 1= Normal level of well-being 2= middle level (borderline) 3 = Abnormal level of wellbeing

Child well-being indicator DimensionScoreFactors consideredNormal (unlikely to have serious problems) Medium (reflects some significant problems) Abnormal (reflect serious problems Total Emotional problems10Somatic, worries, unhappy, clingy, afraid Conduct problems10Temper, obeys, fights, lies steals Hyperactivity (attention deficit) 10Restless, fidgety, distracted, reflects, attends Peer relations problems 10loner, friend,popular bullied, better with adults Pro social behaviour10Considerate, shares, caring, kind, volunteers

Results: Ed. aspirations Contrary to expectations (Mexican experience) having a migrant father (US), increases the probability of reaching the highest level of education aspiration. As expected older children are less ambitious in terms of aspirations. Girls’ hopes of accomplishing higher levels of education are higher compared to adolescent males. Perspectives to migrate to both Spain and the US increases the likelihood of reaching higher educ. Aspirations. Main motivations for migration reduce (as expected) the level of aspirations. Low levels of well-being influences negatively the hopes for higher education levels. Not very surprising, living in a rural area (keeping in mind a poor educational infrastructure in the region) decreases the probability of attaining higher level of education.

Results: Child well-being Findings: As expected the absence of one of the parents leads to a deterioration of child well-being Age and education covariates indicate that adolescents experience a deterioration of their well-being as they become older Communicating with migrant father on regular basis improves child well-being

Concluding remarks Our preliminary findings shows that family factors including migration account on explaining educational aspirations and child well-being Our results need to be confirmed/complemented with further qualitative research undertaken with children, caregivers and teachers