Impacts of Parental Migration on Children Left Behind in Myanmar: Evidence From a Recent Survey in Myanmar’s Dry Zone

Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan , National University of SIngapore
John Knodel, University of Michigan

Myanmar’s population has increasingly been on the move following structural reforms in 2011. Little is known empirically about migration impacts on its left-behind populations. We analyze data from the 2017 Dry Zone Migration Impact Survey to examine how parental migration impacts upon under-15 children left behind. Specifically, we investigate types of care provision for children with parental absence and prevalence of unmet needs for care. We examine how the impacts vary by gender of the migrant parent, destination of migration, child’s socio-demographic characteristics. We find that negative impacts of migration are limited to children whose mother or both parents migrated. Limited impacts are perhaps explained by the current migration patterns of the Dry Zone. Children with migrant parents are embedded in extended family networks. Households diversified risks by having different members fulfill different roles, including economic migration and care provision. Looking ahead, fertility decline and increased migration can pose new challenges to families in migration-source areas.

See paper

 Presented in Session 188. Migration's Impacts on Gender