The context of parental migration and the self-rated health of children in Ghana and Nigeria V. Cebotari, V. Mazzucato & M. Siegel 27 November, 2015

Definitions Transnational families - when parents migrate internationally and children are left in the origin country to be raised by a caregiver. Parents – biological parents Caregiver – the person responsible for the day-to-day care of the child. This can be the other parent, an extended family member or a non-kin member.

Aim A. To investigate the relationship between different contexts of parental absence and child health We do this by looking at parental migration in combination with extraordinary family circumstances such as divorce and parental death. B. To assess the complexity of life of children left- behind in relation to health How often children change caregiver, remittances, who is the parent that migrates and who is the caregiver

Transnational and migration studies The literature points to: Difference between maternal and paternal migration Importance of who the caregiver is The role of remittances [Dreby, 2007; Fresnoza-Flot 2009; Schmalzbauer 2004; Parreñas 2005]

Gaps Qualitative transnational studies: no reference group Not all transnational characteristics are investigated Primarily based on adult/caregiver assessments Double separation migration + marital dissolution migration + parental death Hardly any comparative studies [Graham & Jordan 2011] Focus on L. America and Asia – no African cases. Internal vs international

Ghana and Nigeria Children with parents away (no orphans): 38% Ghana (GDHS, 2008) 21% Nigeria (NDHS, 2008) The existence and widespread practice of child fostering and social parenthood No guilt feelings on the part of parents Children not/less stigmatized by peers/society Child fostering may be preferred choice [Coe, 2008; Bledsoe & Sow, 2011]

Data and sample 2 twin surveys: Ghana: N= 2,760; Nigeria: N= 2,168 High out migration areas Ghana: the Greater Accra region, Kumasi, Sunyani, Cape Coast Nigeria: Ife, Ibadan A stratified sampling procedure of junior/senior, public/private and high/low quality schools

Self-rated health On a scale from 1 to 5 [1 = not good to 5 = very good], how would you rate your own health?

Complexity of children’s life-1 Location of the migrant parent and the type of separation: non-migrant, internal/together, internal/divorced, inter’l/together, inter’l/divorced, internal/death, inter’l death. Children with parents away and divorced are likely to report decreased health. Which migrant parent is absent and who is the caregiver: non-migrant, father away/mother carer, mother away/father carer, both away Maternal migration negatively affects child health This would not be the case when the mothers are the caregivers

Complexity of children’s life-2 The stability of the child raising arrangement: non- migrant/zero changes, non-migrant/often changes, migrant/zero changes, migrant/often changes Frequent changes in caregiver are more likely to decrease child health Remittances: non-migrant, migrant/yes, migrant/no Children living transnationally and receiving remittances are more likely to have better health

Other measurements Child characteristics Age, gender family characteristics Education mother, education father, total nr. of children, younger siblings, Family Process Quality of child/parent relationship Living Conditions Subjective living conditions, housing conditions School type Low/high quality, public/private

Analytical strategy Ordinal probit models Step-wise inclusion of controls

Results - type of absence

GhanaNigeria Location parent(s) and the type of separation Non-migrant parents Parent(s) away internally: together Parent(s) away internationally: together Parents(s) away internally: divorced/separated -0.18* ***-0.33**-0.37*** Parents(s) away internationally: divorced/separated -0.23*-0.27* -0.34*-0.40**-0.36* Parent away internally: parent deceased Child age (years)-0.06***-0.05**-0.06** -0.05*** -0.05** Child is girl Mother’s education secondary or more Father’s education secondary or more Nr. of siblings living with the child The child is living with younger siblings Living conditions are better 0.16**0.15** 0.37***0.35*** Number of People per rooms in the house *-0.08** Distant relationship with parent(s)/caregiver Low–quality schools Private schools -0.13* -0.21**

Results – complexity of children’s life

GhanaNigeria Migration status and the caregiver Non-migrant parents- - Father abroad, mother caregiver Mother abroad, father caregiver * Both parents abroad, other carer Stability of the care arrangement Non-migrant parents: changed never - - Non-migrant parents: changed caregiver > ** Parent(s) away: never changed caregiver Parent(s) away: changed caregiver > * Remittances Non-migrant parents: - - Parents away internationally: yes Parents away internationally: no

Other Findings Older children -> decreased health Good living and housing conditions -> better health Children in private schools -> decreased health

Conclusions It is important to distinguish between the contexts of parental absence in relation to child health The transnational life of children is not unidimensional and different family arrangements affect children differently and not necessarily in a more negative way Family unity is key Stability of the caregiver makes a difference Family norms around child upbringing are important Remittances are not crucial Children’s perceptions of their own well-being should be considered more in policy responses.

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