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The Impact of Parents Migration on the Well-being of Children Left Behind: Initial Evidence from Romania

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  • Pfeiffer, Friedhelm

    (ZEW Mannheim)

Abstract

Many children grow up with parents working abroad. Economists are interested in the achievement and well-being of these "home alone" children to better understand the positive and negative aspects of migration in the sending countries. This paper examines the causal effects of parents' migration on their children left home in Romania, a country where increasingly more children are left behind in recent years. Using samples from a unique representative survey carried out in 2007 instrumental variable and bivariate probit estimates have been performed. Our initial evidence demonstrates that in Romania home alone children receive higher school grades, partly because they increase their time allocation for studying. However, they are more likely to be depressed and more often suffer from health problems especially in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2014. "The Impact of Parents Migration on the Well-being of Children Left Behind: Initial Evidence from Romania," IZA Discussion Papers 8225, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8225
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    Cited by:

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    3. Qiu, Tongwei & Zhang, Danru & Choy, S.T. Boris & Luo, Biliang, 2021. "The interaction between informal and formal institutions: A case study of private land property rights in rural China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 578-591.
    4. Lucia Mangiavacchi, 2016. "Family structure and children’s educational attainment in transition economies," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 303-303, October.
    5. Anghel, Remus Gabriel & Botezat, Alina & Cosciug, Anatolie & Manafi, Ioana & Roman, Monica, 2016. "International migration, return migration, and their effects. A comprehensive review on the Romanian case," MPRA Paper 75528, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Dec 2016.
    6. Lei Lei & Sonalde Desai & Feinian Chen, 2020. "Fathers' migration and nutritional status of children in India: Do the effects vary by community context?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(20), pages 545-580.
    7. Bergbauer, Annika B., 2019. "How did EU membership of Eastern Europe affect student achievement?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(6), pages 624-644.
    8. 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.
    9. Aniela Matei & Elen-Silvana Bobârnat, 2021. "Parental Role Changes in Romanian Transnational Families: Consequences of Migration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-20, December.
    10. Fan, Xiaoyan & Lu, Mengjia, 2020. "Testing the effect of perceived social support on left-behind children’s mental well-being in mainland China: The mediation role of resilience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. Iordache Mihaela & Matei Mihaela, 2020. "Explaining Recent Romanian Migration: A Modified Gravity Model with Panel Data," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 9(1), pages 46-64, August.
    12. Jiang, Hanchen & Yang, Xi, 2019. "Parental Migration, Investment in Children, and Children's Non-cognitive Development: Evidence from Rural China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 395, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. 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.
    14. Angel-Alex HÃISAN & Vasile Paul BREªFELEAN, 2014. "Data Mining Emigration Decisions Among Romanian Teachers - Part 1: Theoretical And Methodological Aspects," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 3(1), pages 38-52, JULY.
    15. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    16. Sandrina Mindu, 2020. "Methodological Aspects Concerning the Psychoeducational Intervention in the Case of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders of Children with Migrant Parents," Book chapters-LUMEN Proceedings, in: Simona Marin & Petronel Moisescu (ed.), 4th International Scientific Conference SEC-IASR 2019, edition 1, volume 12, chapter 24, pages 227-239, Editura Lumen.
    17. Annika B. Bergbauer, 2019. "How Did EU Membership of Eastern Europe Affect Student Achievement?," ifo Working Paper Series 299, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    18. Clifton-Sprigg, Joanna, 2014. "Out of sight, out of mind? Educational outcomes of children with parents working abroad," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-45, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Wubin Xie & John Sandberg & Elanah Uretsky & Yuantao Hao & Cheng Huang, 2022. "Parental Migration and Children’s Early Childhood Development: A Prospective Cohort Study of Chinese Children," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 29-58, February.
    20. Hechao Jiang & Taixiang Duan & Fang Wang, 2022. "The Effects of Parental Labor Migration on Children’s Mental Health in Rural China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2543-2562, October.
    21. Pajaron, Marjorie & Latinazo, Cara T. & Trinidad, Enrico G., 2020. "The children are alright: Revisiting the impact of parental migration in the Philippines," GLO Discussion Paper Series 507, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    22. Angel-Alex HÃISAN & Vasile Paul BRESFELEAN, 2014. "Data Mining Emigration Decisions Among Romanian Teachers. Part 2: The Results," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 3(2), pages 66-81, DECEMBER.
    23. Qiu, Tongwei & Boris Choy, S.T. & Li, Shangpu & He, Qinying & Luo, Biliang, 2020. "Does land renting-in reduce grain production? Evidence from rural China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    24. 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.
    25. Xi Ouyang & Wen’e Qi & Donghui Song & Jianjun Zhou, 2022. "Does Subjective Well-Being Promote Pro-Environmental Behaviors? Evidence from Rural Residents in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-19, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    home alone children; parent migration; Romania; well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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