Abstract:
This study examines the impact of migration on children left behind in terms
of schooling and child labor by quantifying two aspects of migration: remittances
and parental absence, in cases where the father is the migrant. The study is based on
a panel analysis of data drawn from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey for 2007
and the Privatization in Education Research Initiative survey for 2011. The sample
comprises 820 households with children aged 5–14 years. The study uses the
instrumental variable (IV) approach due to endogeneity. Exogenous variation in
parental absence and remittances sent by migrants from a given kinship network are
employed as IVs. This, combined with household fixed effects and random effects,
increases the reliability of the results. While remittances benefit the children, father’s
absence has adverse consequences for them. However, mother’s presence in the house
appears to compensate for the father’s absence, making the migration beneficial on
net for the child. The father’s absence has worse consequences for girls in terms of
increased child labor, where the money coming in through remittances has a larger
impact on boys’ schooling.
