The Long-term Influence of Parental Migration on Children in Mexico
Open Access
- Author:
- Mayol-Garcia, Yeris Hilen
- Graduate Program:
- Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 15, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Nancy Susan Landale, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Nancy Susan Landale, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Kevin J Thomas, Committee Member
Ralph Salvador Oropesa, Committee Member
Mayra Y Bamaca, Outside Member
Jeremy Staff, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Children/Youth
Migration
Mexico
Life Course
Family
Gender
School
Work - Abstract:
- Latin American migration has profoundly changed family arrangements and dynamics. Although many parents migrate to increase family income and educational opportunities for children remaining in the origin country, youth left behind may pursue a variety of life paths. Parental migration may be considered a turning point in children’s lives because it alters their support and resources, living arrangements and family dynamics. The aims of this study are threefold: first, to understand how children’s family circumstances are affected by parental migration experiences; second, to analyze how parental migration influences youth’s school and work experiences; and third, to shed light on how parental migration influences the timing of family formation events in adolescence and early adulthood. The study emphasizes the role of gender and the timing of migration in relation to children’s lives. Mexico is an ideal place to extend our understanding of migration and children’s outcomes, given its high parental migration rates and the availability of nationally representative longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MXFLS). These data facilitate the identification of youth with different kinds of parental migration experience, including maternal or paternal migration, U.S. or internal migration and migration before or during children’s lifetime. Using a combination of descriptive information, multivariate regression analyses, and event-history analyses I explore children’s life outcomes and their associations with parental migration. This project provides overwhelming evidence that the migration of parents is significantly linked to the living arrangements, activities and early family formation trajectories of their offspring. There is evidence of intergenerational transfers of both advantage and disadvantage through the migration of parents. The offspring of migrant fathers, internal migrants and parents who migrate before children are born seem to do well in the long run. However, youth are more likely to experience disadvantage from the migration of mothers. These disparities probably originate from the different migration selection processes of men and women. U.S. migration led to fewer family resources, worse school outcomes and high levels of early family formation suggesting experiences of disadvantage. Results are mixed for children left behind but also point to limited resources and negative child outcomes.