Educational Selectivity of Migrants and Current School Enrollment of Children Left behind: Analyses in Three African Countries

Abstract

Migration of household members is often undertaken to improve the well-being of individuals remaining in the household. Despite this, research has demonstrated inconsistent associations between migration and children’s well-being across sending areas and types of migration. To understand the degree to which different types of migration and migrants are associated with schooling, we analyze comparable data across three African countries differing in prevalence, type, and selectivity of migration. Results suggest that recent migration is differentially associated with left-behind children’s school enrollment across settings. When analyses are restricted to migrant-sending households, however, migrant selectivity is positively associated with school enrollment.

Keywords

migration children schooling

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Acosta

2011. “School Attendance, Child Labour, and Remittances from International Migration in El Salvador.” Journal of Development Studies 47(6):913–36.

Adams

R. H.

2003. “International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain: A Study of 24 Labor-Exporting Countries.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (3069), World Bank, Washington, DC.

Adams

R. H.

Jr Cuecuecha

Page

. 2008. “Remittances, Consumption, and Investment in Ghana.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Adepoju

2004. “Trends in International Migration in and from Africa.” In International Migration: Prospects and Policies in a Global Market, edited by Massey

D. S.

Taylor

J. E.

, 59–76. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Agesa

Ri. U.

2004. “One Family, Two Households: Rural to Urban Migration in Kenya.” Review of Economics of the Household 2(2):161–78.

Amuedo-Dorantes

Georges

Pozo

. 2010. “Migration, Remittances, and Children’s Schooling in Haiti.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 630(1):224–44.

Antman

F. M.

2012. “Gender, Educational Attainment, and the Impact of Parental Migration on Children Left Behind.” Journal of Population Economics 25(4):1187–214.

Auriol

Demonsant

J.-L.

. 2012. “Education and Migration Choices in Hierarchical Societies: The Case of Matam, Senegal.” Regional Science and Urban Economics 42(5):875–89.

Beauchemin

Schoumaker

. 2005. “Migration to Cities in Burkina Faso: Does the Level of Development in Sending Areas Matter?” World Development 33(7):1129–52.

10.

Bigsten

1996. “The Circular Migration of Smallholders in Kenya.” Journal of African Economies 5(1):1–20.

11.

Binci

Giannelli

G. C.

. Forthcoming. “Internal Versus International Migration: Impacts of Remittances on Child Labor and Schooling in Vietnam.” International Migration Review. doi:10.1111/imre.12267

12.

Brockerhoff

. 1993. “Demographic and Socioeconomic Determinants of Female Rural to Urban Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa.” International Migration Review 27(3):557–77.

13.

Buchmann, 2000. “Family Structure, Parental Perceptions, and Child Labor in Kenya: What Factors Determine Who Is Enrolled in School?” Social Forces 78:1349–78.

14.

Case

Paxson

Ableidinger

. 2004. “Orphans in Africa: Parental Death, Poverty, and School Enrollment.” Demography 41(3):483–508.

15.

Chen

Huang

Rozelle

Shi

Zhang

. 2009. “Effect of Migration on Children’s Educational Performance in Rural China.” Comparative Economic Studies 51(3):323–43.

16.

Choe

Chrite

E. L.

. 2014. “Internal Migration of Blacks in South Africa: An Application of the Roy Model.” South African Journal of Economics 82:81–98.

17.

Cordell

D. D.

Gregory

J. W.

Piché

. 1996. Hoe and Wage: History of a Circular Migration System in West Africa. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

18.

Creighton

Park

. 2010. “Closing the Gender Gap: Six Decades of Reform in Mexican Education.” Comparative Education Review 54(4):513–37.

19.

de Brauw

Mueller

Lee

H. L.

. 2014. “The Role of Rural-Urban Migration in the Structural Transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa.” World Development 63:33–42.

20.

de Hoop

Rosati

F. C.

. 2014. “Does Promoting School Attendance Reduce Child Labor? Evidence from Burkina Faso’s BRIGHT Project.” Economics of Education Review 39:78–96.

21.

De Vreyer

Gubert

Roubaud

. 2010. “Migration, Self-Selection and Returns to Education in the WAEMU.” Journal of African Economies 19(1):52–87.

22.

Deb

Seck

. 2009. Internal Migration, Selection Bias and Human Development: Evidence from Indonesia and Mexico. New York: United Nations Development Programme.

23.

Diatta

M. A.

Mbow

. 1999. “Releasing the Development Potential of Return Migration: The Case of Senegal.” International Migration 37(1):243–66.

24.

Durand

Massey

D. S

. 1992. “Mexican Migration to the United States: A Critical Review.” Latin American Research Review 27(2):3–42.

25.

Edwards

A. C.

Ureta

. 2003. “International Migration, Remittances, and Schooling: Evidence from El Salvador.” Journal of Development Economics 72(2):429–61.

26.

Feliciano

2005. “Educational Selectivity in U.S. Immigration: How Do Immigrants Compare to Those Left behind?” Demography 42(1):131–52.

27.

Feliciano

Lanuza

Y. R.

. 2017. “An Immigrant Paradox? Contextual Attainment and Intergenerational Educational Mobility.” American Sociological Review 82(1):211–41.

28.

Filmer

Pritchett

. 1999. “The Effect of Household Wealth on Educational Attainment: Evidence from 35 Countries.” Population and Development Review 25(1):85–120.

29.

Fox

Santibañez

Nguyen

André

. 2012. Education Reform in Mozambique: Lessons and Challenges. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications.

30.

Gerdes

2007. Focus Migration. Senegal. Hamburg: Hamburg Institute of International Economics.

31.

Halpern-Manners

2011. “The Effect of Family Member Migration on Education and Work among Nonmigrant Youth in Mexico.” Demography 48(1):73–99.

32.

2013. “Does Migration Benefit the Schooling of Children Left behind?: Evidence from Rural Northwest China.” Demographic Research 29:33–70.

33.

Ichou

2014. “Who They Were There: Immigrants’ Educational Selectivity and Their Children’s Educational Attainment.” European Sociological Review 30(6):750–56.

34.

International Organization for Migration. 2009. Migration Au Sénégal: Profil National 2009. Genève: International Organization for Migration.

35.

Kaestner

Malamud

. 2014. “Self-Selection and International Migration: New Evidence from Mexico.” Review of Economics and Statistics 96(1):78–91.

36.

Kandel

Kao

. 2000. “Shifting Orientations: How U.S. Labor Migration Affects Children’s Aspirations in Mexican Migrant Communities.” Social Science Quarterly 81(1):16–32.

37.

Konseiga

2007. “Household Migration Decisions as Survival Strategy: The Case of Burkina Faso.” Journal of African Economies 16(2):198–233.

38.

Massey

D. S.

Aysa

. 2005. “Social Capital and International Migration from Latin America.” Expert group meeting on international migration and development in Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Secretariat.

39.

McKenzie

D. J.

Mistiaen

. 2007. “Surveying Migrant Households: A Comparison of Census-Based, Snowball.” Policy Research Working Paper 4419, The World Bank, Washington, DC.

40.

McKenzie

Rapoport

. 2010. “Self-Selection Patterns in Mexico-US Migration: The Role of Migration Networks.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 92:811–21.

41.

McKenzie

Rapoport

. 2011. “Can Migration Reduce Educational Attainment? Evidence from Mexico.” Journal of Population Economics 24(4):1331–58.

42.

Meyerhoefer

C. D.

Chen

C. J.

. 2011. “The Effect of Parental Labor Migration on Children’s Educational Progress in Rural China.” Review of Economics of the Household 9(3):379–96.

43.

Miller

Elman

E.h

. 2013. “Improving the Quality of Education: Kenya’s Next Challenge.” Geography 98:24–32.

44.

Mora

Taylor

. 2005. "Determinants of Migration, Destination and Sector Choice: Disentangling Individual, Household and Community Effects.” In International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, edited by Ozden

Schiff

, 21–52. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

45.

Niemeijer

Mazzucato

. 2002. “Soil Degradation in the West African Sahel: How Serious Is It?” Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 44(2):20–31.

46.

Nishimura

Yamano

. 2013. “Emerging Private Education in Africa: Determinants of School Choice in Rural Kenya.” World Development 43:266–75.

47.

Orrenius

P. M.

Zavodny

. 2005. "Self-Selection among Undocumented Immigrants from Mexico." Journal of Development Economics 78(1):215–40.

48.

Piotrowski

Paat

Y.-F.

. 2012. “Determinants of Educational Attainment in Rural Thailand: A Life Course Approach.” Population Research and Policy Review 31(6):907–34.

49.

Pison

Hill

Cohen

Foote

. 1997. “Les changements démographiques au Sénégal.” Travaux et documents de l'Institut national d'études démographiques (INED). Cahiers 138. Paris: INED.

50.

Plaza

Navarrete

Ratha

. 2011. “Migration and Remittances Household Surveys: Methodological Issues and New Findings from Sub-Saharan Africa.” Unpublished manuscript, Africa Migration Project, World Bank, Washington, DC.

51.

Ratha

. 2007. “Migration and Remittances in Senegal.” In Migration and Remittances Factbook, edited by World Bank Development Prospects Group. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

52.

Reed

H. E.

Andrzejewski

C. S.

White

M. J.

. 2010. “Men’s and Women’s Migration in Coastal Ghana: An Event History Analysis.” Demographic Research 22.

53.

République du Sénégal. 2003. Programme de développement de l’éducation et de la formation - Education pour tous. Dakar: Ministere de l'Education.

54.

Robles

V. F.

Oropesa

R. S.

. 2011. “International Migration and the Education of Children: Evidence from Lima, Peru.” Population Research and Policy Review 30(4):591–618.

55.

Robin

Lalou

Ndiaye

. 2000. Les Déterminants de l’émigration internationale au Sénégal. Sénégal: Eurostat-IRD-DPS.

56.

Somerset

2009. “Universalising Primary Education in Kenya: The Elusive Goal.” Comparative Education 45(2):233–50.

57.

Stark

1991. The Migration of Labor. Oxford: Blackwell.

58.

Syred

2011. “International Emigration: A Sub-Saharan Perspective.” African Policy Watch 7:1–8.

59.

Takenaka

Pren

K. A.

. 2010. “Determinants of Emigration: Comparing Migrants’ Selectivity from Peru and Mexico.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 630(1):178–93.

60.

Toma

Castagnone

. 2015. “What Drives onward Mobility within Europe? The Case of Senegalese Migrations between France, Italy and Spain.” Population 70(1):69–101.

61.

UNDP. 2015a. Human Development Report 2015: Work for Human Development. New York: UNDP.

62.

UNDP. 2015b. Sustainable Development Goals. New York: UNDP.

63.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2013. Adult and Youth Literacy: National, Regional and Global Trends, 1985–2015. Montreal, Canada: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

64.

UNICEF. 2014. State of the World’s Children 2014: Every Child Counts. New York: UNICEF.

65.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Population Division. 2014. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision. New York: United Nations.

66.

Wouterse

Taylor

J. E.

. 2008. “Migration and Income Diversification: Evidence from Burkina Faso.” World Development 36(4):625–40.

67.

Yabiku

S. T.

Agadjanian

Cau

. 2012. “Labor Migration and Child Mortality in Mozambique.” Social Science & Medicine 75(12):2530–38.

68.

Yao

Treiman

D. J.

. 2011. “Migration, Remittances and Educational Stratification among Blacks in Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Social Forces 89(4):1119–43.