Children Left Behind The Feminization of International Migration Cort´ es and its effects on the Families Left behind: Introduction Outline Evidence from the Philippines Simple Model Data and Descriptive Statistics Patricia Cort´ es, Boston University-SMG Empirical Im- plementation Conclusion Atlanta FED November 5, 2010 Cort´ es Children Left Behind
New Hires of OFWs by Gender 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Females Males
Motivation Children Left Millions of children in the developing world are growing up Behind with at least one parent living abroad: Cort´ es A UNDP study in Ecuador found that 218 000 girls and Introduction Outline boys -about 3 percent - had at least one parent abroad. Simple Model Bryant (2005) estimates that 2-3 % of Indonesian and Data and Thai children have been left behind by a parent. Descriptive 1 million Sri Lankan children are left behind by their Statistics mothers Empirical Im- plementation An estimated 170 000 children in Romania have one or Conclusion both parents working abroad (NYT). The numbers in the Philippines are even more striking: Close to 10 % of the country’s labor force is working abroad as temporary migrants. An estimated 3-5 million Filipino children with a parent living abroad Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Motivation Children Left Most parents migrate to provide for their children Behind economically Cort´ es In the Philippines, left behind children are not the poorest Introduction of the poor prior to migration; most are fed on a daily Outline basis and attend public schools. Simple Model Parents seek: quality health care, good schooling, home Data and Descriptive ownership, start a business. Statistics However, the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of Empirical Im- plementation children depends not only on resources, but also on parental care. Conclusion Anecdotal evidence suggests that many children left behind are growing up under serious emotional strain. A survey by SMC (2000) to 700 children shows that compared to their classmates, the children of migrant workers performed particularly poorly in school, and were more likely to express confusion, anger and apathy. Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Motivation Gender composition of temporary migrants patterns in the Children Left Behind Philippines and other countries has shifted from majority Cort´ es males to majority females: Whereas in the 1970s women formed about 15 % of the Introduction Outline Filipino migrant labor force, in 2005, 70 % of new hires of Simple Model migrant workers were female Data and Increased concern for negative effects of migration on the Descriptive Statistics children left behind: Empirical Im- Gender roles are still very strong in the Philippines → plementation migration of mothers is a much larger disruption in a Conclusion child’s life Families of migrant fathers: children are cared by their mothers, whose husbands earn a salary sufficient to support a stay-at-home mother, Fathers of children with migrant mothers rarely become primary care givers. Instead, children are mostly under the care of extended kin, usually aunts and grandmothers. Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Research Question Children Left Behind Cort´ es If and how does female migration have a differential effect Introduction on the wellbeing of the Filipino children left behind Outline Simple Model Main outcome is school performance, as measured by the Data and probability of lagging behind Descriptive Statistics Important question: Empirical Im- plementation Expands understanding of the role of parental time Conclusion investments in the human capital accumulation of children Provides policy makers with valuable information about the consequences of their migration policies and might also help provide better support services for the left behind Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Empirical Strategy Children Left Behind Use two control groups: (1) children with migrant fathers Cort´ es and (2) children in non-migrant hhlds. Explore age Introduction patterns. Outline For (1) we exploit demand shocks as a exogenous source Simple Model of variation that affects the probability that the mother Data and Descriptive decides to work abroad: Statistics Philippines’ migration flows are gender specific and highly Empirical Im- plementation channelized between local areas and foreign destinations Conclusion (networks) Economic shocks, changes in immigration laws, and even epidemics such as SARS in HK should affect the propensity to female migration differently by local area. For (2) we use OLS, but consider selection. Also use FE models. Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Preview of the Results Children Left Children of migrant mothers are between 12-35 pp (1/3-1 Behind std dev) more likely to be at least a grade behind the Cort´ es standard given their age, when compared to children with Introduction migrant fathers. Outline Differential effect is not fully explained by differences in Simple Model Data and remittance behavior Descriptive OLS results suggest that compared with children with Statistics Empirical Im- non-migrant parents, children 8-11 with migrant mothers plementation are more likely to be lagging behind Conclusion Result likely causal, given that selection should go in the opposite direction. Effect becomes positive and the migrant father effect becomes much larger when we study older children, suggesting that at older ages remittances play a larger role in education and migration has a positive net effect. Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Outline Children Left Behind Cort´ es Introduction 1 Simple Model Outline Simple Model Data and 2 Data and Descriptive Statistics Descriptive Statistics Empirical Im- 3 Empirical Strategy and Results plementation Conclusion 4 Conclusions Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Education Production Function Children Left Behind Cort´ es Assume that education ( S ) is produced using two inputs: Introduction economic resources ( R ) and parental time ( T ): Outline Simple Model S ( R , T ) (1) Data and Descriptive Statistics Given this production function parental migration ( M ) Empirical Im- affects the level of education as follows: plementation Conclusion ∂ M = ∂ S ∂ S ∂ R ∗ ∂ R ∂ M + ∂ S ∂ T ∗ ∂ T (2) ∂ M Assume ∂ R ∂ M > 0 and ∂ R ∂ T < 0 Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Comparisons Children Left Behind Cort´ es Migrant Mothers vs. Migrant Fathers (gender orthogonal) ∂ M mm < ∂ R ∂ R Introduction ∂ M fm Outline | ∂ T ∂ M mm | > | ∂ T ∂ M fm | Simple Model We should expect children of migrant mothers to be Data and unambiguously worse than children of migrant fathers Descriptive Statistics The comparison with children living with both parents is Empirical Im- ambiguous plementation Age Patterns Conclusion ∂ R younger < ∂ S ∂ S ∂ R older Arguably, ∂ S ∂ T younger > ∂ S ∂ T older ∂ M younger < ∂ S ∂ S Then ∂ M older Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Selection Children Left Behind Cort´ es Introduction Outline Assuming parents want to maximize (1) and no heterogeneity Simple Model in (1) Data and Compared to non-migrant families: Descriptive Statistics Migrants have larger ∂ R ∂ M and smaller | ∂ T ∂ M | Empirical Im- Positive Selection plementation Conclusion Less clear pattern for Migrant Mothers vs. Migrant Fathers Cort´ es Children Left Behind
Data Economic and demographic household characteristics (including Children Left Behind migration status of members): Cort´ es 100 % 1990, 1995 and 2000 Census, main advantage: Introduction size, 80 million obs. per year (waiting for the 2007 to be Outline Simple Model available) Data and Survey of Overseas Filipinos 1993-2002: supplement of Descriptive Statistics labor force survey, much smaller but more detailed Empirical Im- information of migration experience plementation Conclusion Family Income and Expenditure Survey 1991, 1994, 2000: Used to construct region level controls Migration Flows by place of origin and gender Confidential data on all legal migrants 2004-2007 provided by the Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). We use it to construct the instruments. Cort´ es Children Left Behind
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