Beyond the money: the impact of international migration on children’s life satisfaction: evidence from Ecuador and Albania

Abstract

Using data from eight focus groups and two household surveys conducted in the cities of Tirana, Albania and Quito, Ecuador, this paper finds that migration from at least one parent has a negative impact on the life satisfaction of children and adolescents left behind relative to that of children and adolescents who live with both parents who have never migrated. The results of this paper suggest that the impact of migration goes beyond traditional ones (e.g. remittances), which is useful for understanding how different components of international migration in general, and parental migration in particular, relate to outcomes that not only affect the full development prospects of children and adolescents, but also have important implications for policy initiatives that seek to address both the positive and negative impacts of migration on sending countries.

Keywords:

• international migration
• parental migration
• life satisfaction
• subjective well-being
• children left behind

Acknowledgements

This research would not have been possible without the assistance and collaboration of the Ecuadorian and Albanian Governments, the UNDP’s Special Unit for South–South Cooperation, ILO’s International Migration Programme, UNICEF’s Country Offices in Albania and Ecuador, and UNICEF’s DPP and SMS. Their support and professional advice was vital to the completion of a study of this nature. The cooperation of Albania’s Urban Research Institute, Ecuador’s Observatorio de los Derechos de la Niñez y Adolescencia and of the survey and focus group participants is also extremely appreciated.

Notes

1. Those that focus on how people process information based on their own perceptions rather than on objective descriptions of their lives (Manis, 1977; Zajonc, 1980).

2. Those related to pleasant and unpleasant emotions.

3. Overall, the questionnaire was found to be comprehensible; participants in neither Quito nor Tirana reported any significant problems in completing it. All the questions were understood without difficulty, and respondents did not have substantial questions about how to fill out the proposed instrument to be implemented in the field. Lastly, there were no evident differences between male and female participants either on substance or completing the questionnaire.

4. Previous literature confirms the BMSLSS as a reliable and valid measure (see Funk, Huebner, & Valois, 2006; Seligson, Huebner, & Valois, 2003; Siyez & Kaya, 2008. See Appendix 2 for confirmatory factor analysis).

5. I would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this suggestion.

6. I would like to thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this suggestion.

7. Country teams should identify four regions using a combination of: (1) high vs. low level of economic development and (2) high vs. low/“non-existent” migrant regions.