Female Migration and Child Occupation in Rural El Salvador

• Published in: Population research and policy review Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 569 - 589
• Main Author: Acosta, Pablo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.08.2011; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Series: Population Research and Policy Review
• Subjects: Adults; Agricultural production; Child Care; Child labor; Child labour; Child welfare; Children; Children & youth; Demography; Domestic workers; Economic Development: Human Resources; Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Economic theory; Economics of Gender; Education; Educational Attainment; El Salvador; Emigrant remittances; Enrollments; F22; Families & family life; Family Planning; Females; Fertility; Gender; Gender differences; Gender differentiation; Homes; Households; Housing; Human capital; Human Development; Human migration; Income Distribution; Infrastructure O180; INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS :: Children; J24; Labor; Labor economics; Labor force; Labor market; Labor Migration; Labor Standards: Labor Force Composition J820; Males; Migrants; Migration; Migration O150; Neighborhood Characteristics R230; Non-labor Discrimination J160; O15; Occupations; Population; Population Economics; Regional Labor Markets; Remittances; Rural Areas; Rural conditions; Schooling; Sex Differences; Social conditions & trends; Social Sciences; Sociology; Studies; Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Women; Womens studies; Workforce; Youth J130; El Salvador; O15; Migration; Child labor; F22; Gender differences; Schooling; J24
• ISSN: 0167-5923; 1573-7829
• DOI: 10.1007/s11113-011-9201-x

This article looks at the consequences of migration in terms of child education and child labor using a unique rural panel dataset for El Salvador. Results suggest gender differences in the consequences of migration on child activities that remain in El Salvador. While female migration tends to reduce child labor, both in domestic and non-domestic activities, male migration seems to stimulate it, in particular in terms of domestic labor. In contrast, while male migration has null or slightly positive impact in terms of school enrollment rates, female migration apparently reduces the likelihood that a particular child stays at school. Some of these results differ according to the gender of the child. The results do not seem to be driven by female migrants remitting more than males, but rather to alternative competing explanations, such as the existence of child-adult male labor substitution, differences in the use of remittances by gender of the recipient person, or limited ability to monitor funds when remitted by female migrants.