IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v40y2021i3d10.1007_s11113-020-09591-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Migration of Children from Mexico to the USA in the Early 2000s

Author

Listed:
  • Erin R. Hamilton

    (University of California at Davis)

  • Maryann Bylander

    (Department of Sociology and Anthropology)

Abstract

Children comprise a significant share of immigrants around the world, yet scholarship has largely treated children as adult-like or adult-following actors in migration. We explore how the early life course and parents’ migration structured children’s migration from Mexico to the USA from 2002 to 2005, using the Mexican Family Life Survey, national survey data from Mexico that tracked 854 migrants, including 375 children, to the USA. We find that while parents’ migration decisions matter at all ages, young children who migrate are nearly always accompanied by their parents, whereas the minority of adolescents are. Primary school-aged children and accompanied adolescents migrate in response to community violence and barriers to education, suggesting that their migration reflects concerns about where it is best to raise children. Adolescents who migrate without their parents do so in response to economic factors, much like adults; however, adolescents also respond to youth community migration prevalence, suggesting that youth-specific norms of migration frame their decision-making. The results show how the early life course structures three distinct profiles of child migration: complete dependents, children whose location choices reflect concerns about schools and safety, and near independents. More generally, the determinants and process of migration shift as parental oversight declines and social structures beyond the family—community violence, access to education, youth norms, gender, and labor markets—emerge as important.

Suggested Citation

  • Erin R. Hamilton & Maryann Bylander, 2021. "The Migration of Children from Mexico to the USA in the Early 2000s," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 337-361, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:40:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09591-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-020-09591-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-020-09591-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-020-09591-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erin R. Hamilton, 2015. "Gendered disparities in Mexico-U.S. migration by class, ethnicity, and geography," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(17), pages 533-542.
    2. Jessica Heckert, 2015. "New perspective on youth migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(27), pages 765-800.
    3. Erin Hamilton & Robin Savinar, 2015. "Two Sources of Error in Data on Migration From Mexico to the United States in Mexican Household-Based Surveys," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1345-1355, August.
    4. Tyler W. Myroniuk & Michael J. White & Mark Gross & Rebecca Wang & Carren Ginsburg & Mark Collinson, 2018. "Does it Take a Village? Migration among Rural South African Youth," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(6), pages 1079-1108, December.
    5. David P. Lindstrom & Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, 2007. "The interrelationship of fertility, family maintenance and Mexico-U.S. Migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(28), pages 821-858.
    6. Shahin Yaqub, 2009. "Independent Child Migrants in Developing Countries: Unexplored links in migration and development," Papers inwopa09/62, Innocenti Working Papers.
    7. Andrés Villarreal, 2014. "Explaining the Decline in Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Effect of the Great Recession," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(6), pages 2203-2228, December.
    8. Liliana Meza González & Liliana Meza González & Carla Pederzini Villarreal, 2009. "Migración internacional y escolaridad como medios alternativos de movilidad social: el caso de México," Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos, vol. 0(Special i), pages 163-206.
    9. Marcela Cerrutti & Douglas Massey, 2001. "On the auspices of female migration from Mexico to the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(2), pages 187-200, May.
    10. Claudia Masferrer & Erin R. Hamilton & Nicole Denier, 2019. "Immigrants in Their Parental Homeland: Half a Million U.S.-born Minors Settle Throughout Mexico," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1453-1461, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fernando Riosmena & Raphael Nawrotzki & Lori Hunter, 2018. "Climate Migration at the Height and End of the Great Mexican Emigration Era," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 455-488, September.
    2. Erin R. Hamilton & Po‐Chun Huang, 2020. "Contextualizing Mexican Migrant Education Selectivity," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(3), pages 603-616, September.
    3. Massimiliano Bratti & Simona Fiore & Mariapia Mendola, 2020. "The impact of family size and sibling structure on the great Mexico–USA migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 483-529, April.
    4. Menashe-Oren, A. & Stecklov, G., 2017. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 17 - Population age structure and sex composition in sub-Saharan Africa: a rural-urban perspective," IFAD Research Series 280055, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    5. Erin Trouth Hofmann & E. Miranda Reiter, 2018. "Geographic Variation in Sex Ratios of the US Immigrant Population: Identifying Sources of Difference," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(3), pages 485-509, June.
    6. Fernando Riosmena, 2016. "The Potential and Limitations of Cross-Context Comparative Research on Migration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 666(1), pages 28-45, July.
    7. Bertoli, Simone & Murard, Elie, 2020. "Migration and co-residence choices: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Bertoli, Simone & Gautrain, Elsa & Murard, Elie, 2020. "Left Behind, but Not Alone: Changes in Living Arrangements and the Effects of Migration and Remittances in Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 13917, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Sharron Xuanren Wang & Arthur Sakamoto, 2016. "Did the Great Recession Downsize Immigrants and Native-Born Americans Differently? Unemployment Differentials by Nativity, Race and Gender from 2007 to 2013 in the U.S," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-14, September.
    10. Nicole Denier & Claudia Masferrer, 2020. "Returning to a New Mexican Labor Market? Regional Variation in the Economic Incorporation of Return Migrants from the U.S. to Mexico," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 617-641, August.
    11. Andrés Villarreal, 2016. "The Education-Occupation Mismatch of International and Internal Migrants in Mexico, 2005–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 865-883, June.
    12. Allan Puur & Leen Rahnu & Liili Abuladze & Luule Sakkeus & Sergei Zakharov, 2017. "Childbearing among first- and second-generation Russians in Estonia against the background of the sending and host countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(41), pages 1209-1254.
    13. David P. Lindstrom & Silvia E. Giorguli-Saucedo, 2007. "The interrelationship of fertility, family maintenance and Mexico-U.S. Migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 17(28), pages 821-858.
    14. Fernando Riosmena & Douglas S. Massey, 2012. "Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 3-36, March.
    15. Gordon Hanson & Chen Liu & Craig McIntosh, 2017. "The Rise and Fall of U.S. Low-Skilled Immigration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(1 (Spring), pages 83-168.
    16. Atsede Desta Tegegne & Marianne Penker, 2016. "Determinants of rural out-migration in Ethiopia: Who stays and who goes?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(34), pages 1011-1044.
    17. Guy Stecklov & Calogero Carletto & Carlo Azzarri & Benjamin Davis, 2010. "Gender and migration from Albania," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(4), pages 935-961, November.
    18. Furtado, Delia & Kong, Haiyang, 2021. "How Do Low-Skilled Immigrants Adjust to Chinese Import Shocks? Evidence Using English Language Proficiency," IZA Discussion Papers 14152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Matt Ruther & Rebbeca Tesfai & Janice Madden, 2018. "Foreign-born population concentration and neighbourhood growth and development within US metropolitan areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 826-843, March.
    20. Akee, Randall K. Q., 2007. "Who Leaves and Who Returns? Deciphering Immigrant Self-Selection from a Developing Country," IZA Discussion Papers 3268, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:40:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09591-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.