Does International Migration Impact the Education and Child Labor Outcomes of Left-Behind Children?

• In Event: Migration as a Labor Market Force: Global Patterns and Local Consequences

Abstract

This paper examines how the international migration of household members impacts the education and weekly hours worked by children living in rural Bangladesh. International migrants play an important role in Bangladesh’s development, with remittances contributing to 6% of GDP. Despite over 2 million children left behind in migrant households, there is a lack of comprehensive research on their human capital formation. This first comprehensive study of children in Bangladeshi migrant and non-migrant households analyzes data from nationally representative surveys and addresses potential endogeneity by using historic migration rates as an instrument for a household’s migrant status. Boys aged 15-17 from migrant households are less likely to be enrolled in school and work 12.7 more hours per week on average than boys in non-migrant households. Girls of all ages in migrant households, including the 15-17 age group, work slightly fewer hours per week than girls in non-migrant households but their school enrollment is not impacted. There is also no impact on the years of education attained for either sex.

These results suggest that rural boys living in migrant households are less likely to complete secondary school, which may limit their long-run human capital formation and socioeconomic mobility. To address this, targeted policies could include expanding technical and vocational education for those exiting formal schooling and developing programs that support reentry into education. These measures are especially urgent given Bangladesh’s demographic profile and growth ambitions, as well as regional projections that many youth will lack the skills needed for decent employment by 2030.

Author

• Alaka Halder, Garner Health
  Presenting Author