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What happens to children's education when their parents emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka

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  • Sarma, Vengadeshvaran J.
  • Parinduri, Rasyad A.

Abstract

We examined the effects of parental emigration on the education of the children left behind in Sri Lanka. Using access to foreign employment agencies as a source of exogenous variation in parental migration, we estimated two-stage least squares models of the children's school enrolment, access to private tuition, class-age gap (the difference between a child's school year and the child's age), and educational spending. Overall, parental migration had no statistically significant effect on any of the outcomes; however, analyses by migrant gender show that the effects of parental migration were heterogeneous. When the mother migrates and the father stays behind, the education of the children worsens; when the father migrates and the mother stays behind, it improves. There is also some evidence that boys, younger children, and children of less-educated parents gain more from parental migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarma, Vengadeshvaran J. & Parinduri, Rasyad A., 2016. "What happens to children's education when their parents emigrate? Evidence from Sri Lanka," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 94-102.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:46:y:2016:i:c:p:94-102
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.11.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Shu Hu, 2019. "“It’s for Our Education”: Perception of Parental Migration and Resilience Among Left-behind Children in Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 641-661, September.
    2. Kriti Vikram, 2023. "Timing and Frequency of Fathers’ Migration and Nutritional Status of Left-Behind Children in India: A Life Course Approach," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-29, February.
    3. Sarma, Vengadeshvaran & Parinduri, Rasyad, 2014. "Married men with children may stop working when their wives emigrate to work: Evidence from Sri Lanka," MPRA Paper 60752, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parental migration; Children's education; South Asia; Sri Lanka;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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