The Impact of Temporary Labor Migration on Mexican Children's Educational Aspirations and Performance

• Published in: The International migration review Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 1205 - 1231
• Main Authors: Kandel, William, Kao, Grace
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2001; Center for Migration Studies; Blackwell; Sage Publications, Inc; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Adolescents; Aliens; Child. Socialization; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive Development; Demographic aspects; Education; Educational Attainment; Educational Plans; Emigration and immigration; Families & family life; Family members; Grade 6; Grade point average; International migration; Labor markets; Labor Migration; Labour migration; Latin American Cultural Groups; Mexican Americans; Mexican people; Mexicans; Mexico; Migration; Noncitizens; Parents; Social aspects; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Student Surveys; Students; United States; United States of America; Universities; USA; United States Of America; Mexico; United States; United States > US; Family Role; Social Influence; Sociology of family; Education; Migration; Academic Achievement; Work; Parent-Child Relationship
• ISSN: 0197-9183; 1747-7379
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2001.tb00058.x

This article examines how temporary U.S. labor migration by family members and by students affects the educational aspirations and performance of those same students growing up in Mexican migrant communities. Labor migration affects these children in two ways. First it brings remitted U.S. earnings into the household which allows parents to provide more education for their children and reduce the need for children's labor. Higher incomes are also associated with numerous factors that improve the general well-being of children, as reflected in various indicators including higher school grades. Labor migration also has negative impacts on children. In addition to family stress and behavioral problems with adolescents due to parental and sibling absence, migration provides an example of an alternative route to economic mobility. Children growing up in migrant households have access to information and social networks that reduce their likelihood of migration failure should they choose this alternative to the Mexican labor market. We analyze a unique data set from a stratified random sample of 7600 grammar, junior high, and high school-level students in a state capital, a large town, and 25 rural communities in a Mexican migrant-sending state. We find that high levels of U.S. migration are associated with lower aspirations to attend a university at all academic levels. We find, however, a positive relationship between U.S. migration and grades. We conclude that while U.S. migration provides financial benefits that allow children to continue schooling and perform well, it may also reduce the motivation to attain above-average years of schooling.