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Unpacking the Relationship between Parental Migration and Child well-Being: Evidence from Moldova and Georgia

Author

Listed:
  • Franziska Gassmann

    (Maastricht University)

  • Melissa Siegel

    (Maastricht University)

  • Michaella Vanore

    (Maastricht University)

  • Jennifer Waidler

    (Maastricht University)

Abstract

Using household survey data collected between September 2011 and December 2012 from Moldova and Georgia, this paper measures and compares the multidimensional well-being of children with and without parents abroad. While a growing body of literature has addressed the effects of migration for children ‘left behind’, relatively few studies have empirically analysed if and to what extent migration implies different well-being outcomes for children, and fewer still have conducted comparisons across countries. To compare the outcomes of children in current- and non-migrant households, this paper defines a multidimensional well-being index comprised of six dimensions of wellness: education, physical health, housing conditions, protection, communication access, and emotional health. This paper challenges conventional wisdom that parental migration is harmful for child well-being: while in Moldova migration does not appear to correspond to any positive or negative well-being outcomes, in Georgia migration was linked to higher probabilities of children attaining well-being in the domains of communication access, housing, and combined well-being index. The different relationship between migration and child well-being in Moldova and Georgia likely reflects different migration trajectories, mobility patterns, and levels of maturity of each migration stream.

Suggested Citation

  • Franziska Gassmann & Melissa Siegel & Michaella Vanore & Jennifer Waidler, 2018. "Unpacking the Relationship between Parental Migration and Child well-Being: Evidence from Moldova and Georgia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(2), pages 423-440, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:11:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-017-9461-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-017-9461-z
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    1. Sergiu Bălțătescu & Tomasz Strózik & Kadri Soo & Dagmar Kutsar & Dorota Strózik & Claudia Bacter, 2023. "Subjective Well-being of Children Left Behind by Migrant Parents in Six European Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(5), pages 1941-1969, October.
    2. Justina Račaitė & Jutta Lindert & Khatia Antia & Volker Winkler & Rita Sketerskienė & Marija Jakubauskienė & Linda Wulkau & Genė Šurkienė, 2021. "Parent Emigration, Physical Health and Related Risk and Preventive Factors of Children Left Behind: A Systematic Review of Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Iasmina Iosim & Patricia Runcan & Remus Runcan & Cristina Jomiru & Mihaela Gavrila-Ardelean, 2022. "The Impact of Parental External Labour Migration on the Social Sustainability of the Next Generation in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-12, April.
    4. Jeenat Binta Jabbar, 2022. "Effects of parental migration on the education of left-behind children," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 33(1), pages 309-350, July.
    5. Darius Leskauskas & Virginija Adomaitienė & Giedrė Šeškevičienė & Eglė Čėsnaitė & Kastytis Šmigelskas, 2020. "Self-Reported Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Left-behind Children in Lithuania," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1203-1216, August.
    6. Cho, Esther Yin-Nei & Yu, Fuk-Yuen, 2020. "A review of measurement tools for child wellbeing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Ming Guan & Hongyi Guan, 2024. "Sense of community and residential well-being among rural-urban migrants in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Children; Multi-dimensional poverty; Moldova; Georgia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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