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Family Migration: A Vehicle of Child Morbidity in the Informal Settlements of Nairobi City, Kenya?

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  • Konseiga, Adama

    (Ministry of Tourism, Quebec)

Abstract

Parental migration is often found to be negatively correlated with child health in Africa, yet the causal mechanisms are poorly understood. The paper uses a dataset that provides information from the respondent parent on child morbidity both in the rural and urban settings. Households first endogenously determine whether they will gain from participating in migration and, if they do, whether they will leave the children behind or not. The final choice is made to ensure the optimal survival chances for the child. This paper contributes to understanding the health consequences of raising the children in the context of increasing urban poverty in Nairobi, Kenya. The findings indicate that households who migrated together with their children in the slums of Nairobi experience higher child morbidity (43 per cent have at least one sick child in the last one month) as compared to households who leave children in their upcountry homes (31 per cent of morbidity rate). Even though children of migrants are safer upcountry, not all households can afford this strategy. Households are able to choose this strategy only if they have a strong social support network in their origin community and/or they are big size households. This is an important finding in targeting the Millennium Development Goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Konseiga, Adama, 2008. "Family Migration: A Vehicle of Child Morbidity in the Informal Settlements of Nairobi City, Kenya?," IZA Discussion Papers 3567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3567
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4467 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Shana Pribesh & Douglas Downey, 1999. "Why are residential and school moves associated with poor school performance?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 521-534, November.
    3. Stark, Oded, 2003. "Tales of Migration without Wage Differentials: Individual, Family, and Community Contexts," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue 2, pages 79-92.
    4. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    5. Alfred O. Agwanda & Philippe Bocquier & Anne Khasakhala & Samuel Owuor, 2004. "The effect of economic crisis on youth precariousness in Nairobi. An analysis of itinerary to adulthood of three generations of men and women," Working Papers DT/2004/04, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    6. Paul Glewwe, 1999. "Why Does Mother's Schooling Raise Child Health in Developing Countries? Evidence from Morocco," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(1), pages 124-159.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kroeger, Antje & Anderson, Kathryn H., 2014. "Remittances and the human capital of children: New evidence from Kyrgyzstan during revolution and financial crisis, 2005–2009," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 770-785.
    2. Antje Kröger & Kathryn Anderson, 2011. "Remittances and Children's Capabilities: New Evidence from Kyrgyzstan, 2005-2008," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1170, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Kenya; Nairobi; informal settlements; split migration; childhood morbidity; incidental truncation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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