IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v117y2020ics0190740920310239.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drivers of independent migration among adolescents from selected West African countries

Author

Listed:
  • Dako-Gyeke, Mavis
  • Kodom, Richard Baffo
  • Dankyi, Ernestina K.
  • Sulemana, Alhassan

Abstract

Independent migration among adolescents is an issue of public concern in West Africa. Thus, drawing on the neoclassical economics, new economics of labour and social networks perspectives, this study explored the reasons for independent migration among adolescents. Employing a qualitative research design, 41 adolescents participated in the study. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and In-depth Interviews (IDIs) were conducted to gather data, which were analyzed thematically. The findings of the study indicated that the adolescents migrated due to diverse reasons (poverty and hardship; social support and networks; peer-pressure and escapade; and maltreatment and abuse). Also, it was found that generally, poverty and hardships drove adolescents to migrate from their countries of origin with the aim of finding and starting work in Ghana, which was perceived as an important source of economic opportunities. Furthermore, evidence showed that while some adolescents had positive experiences in Ghana, others were confronted with challenges, a push factor to their return and integration decisions respectively. Based on the findings of the study, conclusions were drawn.

Suggested Citation

  • Dako-Gyeke, Mavis & Kodom, Richard Baffo & Dankyi, Ernestina K. & Sulemana, Alhassan, 2020. "Drivers of independent migration among adolescents from selected West African countries," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:117:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920310239
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740920310239
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105293?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. William Baah-Boateng, 2016. "The youth unemployment challenge in Africa: What are the drivers?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 27(4), pages 413-431, December.
    2. anonymous, 2006. "The future of economic development in rural America," Profitwise, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Jul.
    3. Sandy Q. Qu & John Dumay, 2011. "The qualitative research interview," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(3), pages 238-264, August.
    4. Daniel Makina, 2012. "Determinants of return migration intentions: Evidence from Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 365-378, September.
    5. ., 2006. "Nonlinear Dynamics of Economic Development," Chapters, in: Innovation Dynamism and Economic Growth, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Todaro, Michael P, 1969. "A Model for Labor Migration and Urban Unemployment in Less Developed Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 138-148, March.
    7. ., 2006. "Islam, Governance and Economic Development," Chapters, in: Middle East Oil Exporters, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Stark, Oded & Bloom, David E, 1985. "The New Economics of Labor Migration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 173-178, May.
    9. Paul Winters & Alain de Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet, 2001. "Family and Community Networks in Mexico-U.S. Migration," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(1), pages 159-184.
    10. Lucas, Robert E B & Stark, Oded, 1985. "Motivations to Remit: Evidence from Botswana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(5), pages 901-918, October.
    11. Stark, Oded & Levhari, David, 1982. "On Migration and Risk in LDCs," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 191-196, October.
    12. repec:cai:poeine:pope_1002_0333 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. ., 2006. "Promoting economic developement," Chapters, in: International Economics and Confusing Politics, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Shahin Yaqub, 2009. "Independent Child Migrants in Developing Countries: Unexplored links in migration and development," Papers inwopa09/62, Innocenti Working Papers.
    15. Lehoux, Pascale & Poland, Blake & Daudelin, Genevieve, 2006. "Focus group research and "the patient's view"," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2091-2104, October.
    16. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Christopher Changwe Nshimbi, 2021. "Rational Actors, Passive and Helpless Victims, Neither, Both: EU Borders and the Drive to Migrate in the Horn of Africa," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 257-267.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tineke Fokkema & Eralba Cela & Elena Ambrosetti, 2013. "Giving from the Heart or from the Ego? Motives behind Remittances of the Second Generation in Europe," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 539-572, September.
    2. Hagen-Zanker, Jessica, 2010. "Modest expectations: Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries," MPRA Paper 29507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Shyamal Chowdhury & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak & Gharad Bryan, 2009. "Migrating Away from a Seasonal Famine: A Randomized Intervention in Bangladesh," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2009-41, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), revised Sep 2009.
    4. Arland Thornton & Prem Bhandari & Jeffrey Swindle & Nathalie Williams & Linda Young-DeMarco & Cathy Sun & Christina Hughes, 2020. "Fatalistic Beliefs and Migration Behaviors: A Study of Ideational Demography in Nepal," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 643-670, August.
    5. Akasaka, Shintaro, 2016. "Macro determinants of Migration: Review and Analysis," MPRA Paper 106509, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    6. Zakiyyah, Varachia, 2018. "Review and Analysis of Macro Determinants of Migration," MPRA Paper 106445, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2018.
    7. Elena Vitalievna, Lebedeva, 2007. "Determinants of International Migration and Remittances," MPRA Paper 104789, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2007.
    8. Deb, Partha & Seck, Papa, 2009. "Internal Migration, Selection Bias and Human Development: Evidence from Indonesia and Mexico," MPRA Paper 19214, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Les Christidis, Les Christidis, 2005. "Theorizing and Conceptualizing of Migration," MPRA Paper 105238, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2005.
    10. Aleksandr Grigoryan & Knar Khachatryan, 2018. "Remittances and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from Armenia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp626, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    11. Chrząstowska, Bożena, 2006. "Determinants of International Migration: A Study of Dual Countries Perspectives," MPRA Paper 104689, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2006.
    12. Zaneta Kubik, 2017. "Climatic variation as a determinant of rural-to-rural migration destination choice:Evidence from Tanzania," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 17037, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    13. Matthieu Delpierre, 2012. "The impact of liquidity constraints and imperfect commitment on migration decisions of offspring of rural households," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 153-170, March.
    14. Moonsung Kang, 2007. "Opportunities and Challenges to Vietnamese Accession to the WTO," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 73-90, March.
    15. Yilmaz, Binhan Elif, 2004. "The Determinants of Migration: A Study of Sending and Destination Perspective," MPRA Paper 104552, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Meyer, Wiebke, 2012. "Motives for remitting from Germany to Kosovo," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 69, number 69.
    17. Irudaya S. Rajan & Pooja Batra & Reddy Sai Shiva Jayanth & Tharatha Moolayil Sivadasan, 2023. "Understanding the multifaceted impact of COVID‐19 on migrants in Kerala, India," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(1), January.
    18. Kudo, Yuya, 2012. "Returns to migration : the role of educational attainment in rural Tanzania," IDE Discussion Papers 322, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    19. Tebboth, M.G.L. & Conway, D. & Adger, W.N., 2019. "Mobility endowment and entitlements mediate resilience in rural livelihood systems," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100210, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Puja Guha, 2014. "Economics of Migration and Remittances: A Review Article," Working Papers id:5618, eSocialSciences.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:117:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920310239. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.