Children and Migration

Millions of children around the world are affected by migration. This includes girls and boys who migrate within and between countries (usually with their families but sometimes on their own), as well as children ‘left behind’ when their parents or caregivers migrate in search of economic opportunities. Be it forced or voluntary, by adults or children, migration affects children’s care situations and can entail risks to their protection.

Children on the move: Like adults, children often migrate in an attempt to build a better life – to escape poverty, discrimination or conflict, and to find education, employment and other opportunities. Others relocate due to an unstable or difficult family environment, such as the loss of a parent, or neglect or abuse from a caregiver. Children may migrate with or without their families, and their movements may be temporary, seasonal or permanent.

While migration can open up new opportunities for children, it can also expose them to harmful care situations, chronic poverty, violence and exploitation. During transit and at their destination, migrant children may end up in unsafe institutions, detention centres, on the streets or in overcrowded, poor-quality accommodation. Others who migrate to join households (e.g. for fostering, education, domestic work or apprenticeships) may be subjected to exploitation. Many migrant children, particularly those without documentation, end up without access to education, protection or basic services, while discrimination and language barriers make it difficult for them to reintegrate into new communities.

Children left behind. An increasing number of children around the world are also adversely affected when migrating parents leave home to seek out employment or economic opportunities (often in urban centres). While children may gain materially from remittances sent home, the absence of a parent may be detrimental to their social and psychological development. In particular, the nature and quality of children’s care relationships may suffer as they adjust to life without a loved caregiver and try to replace a physically and emotionally nurturing relationship with someone new.

Studies from around the world indicate that children left behind by migrating caretakers face education, health and psychosocial problems, including deteriorating academic performance and lower school attendance, greater risk of drug abuse, early pregnancy, involvement in criminal activities and social dysfunction. Left behind children may suffer from low self-esteem and feelings of abandonment, and in the worst cases may be vulnerable to violence, abuse and trafficking. While new or remaining caretakers can offer children a protective and caring environment they may also struggle to care for them without support, and breakdown of these relationships can sometimes result in children’s placement in harmful institutional care.

The documents in this section focus on the impact of migration on children’s care situations, and outline policy, advocacy and programmatic measures to enhance child migrants’ protection.

Displaying 281 - 290 of 859

Browse Other Topics

The mediating mechanism between psychological resilience and mental health among left-behind children in China

Xinyi Zhao, Fang Fu, Luqing Zhou - Children and Youth Services Review, 13 Jan 2020

This study examined the mediating effect of psychological trait resilience on the relationship between protective factors from social network and self-esteem/depression of the left-behind children in China.

View Article

Childhood Left-Behind Experience and Employment Quality of New-Generation Migrants in China

Jianbo Liu, Xiaodong Zheng, Marie Parker & Xiangming Fang - Population Research and Policy Review, 13 Jan 2020

This is the first study that empirically investigates the associations between left-behind experience in childhood and the quality of employment in adulthood for young rural-to-urban migrants in China, a population known as new-generation migrants.

View Article

Parent migration and rural preschool children's early academic and social skill trajectories in China: Are ‘left-behind’ children really left behind?

Bi Ying Hu, Huiping Wu, Adam Winsler, Xitao Fan, Zhanmei Song - Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 10 Jan 2020

This study examined early trajectories for academic and social skills among four groups of rural, preschool-attending, children in the Guangdong province of China: Village children who remained in a rural village and lived with both parents, Migrant children who migrated with their work-seeking parents to live in an urban area, Partially-left-behind children who lived with one parent in a rural village while the other parent migrated to the city for work, and Completely-left-behind children who stayed in a rural village with relatives while both parents migrated to the city for work.

View Article

Girls on the Move in Southern Africa

Save the Children, 02 Jan 2020

This report’s primary purpose is to recommend evidence-based strategies to improve the relevance and effectiveness of field interventions that target development outcomes for migrant girls in Southern Africa.

Girls on the Move in Venezuela and Colombia

Save the Children, 2020

This report consolidates findings from a rapid participatory consultation with: (1) migrant girls in the Northeastern Colombia border region, (2) front-line practitioners providing services to migrant children and their families, and (3) Save the Children teams in Colombia.

International Remittances and Child Welfare: A Case Study on Cali Colombia

Andres Cuadros-Menaca, Isabella Aguirre, Isabella Borja - Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, 2020

This document analyzes the impact of international remittances on child labor and school attendance for children aged between 12 and 18 in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

Balkans Migration and Displacement Hub Data and Trend Analysis: Regional overview (October-December 2019)

Katarina Jovanovic - Save the Children, 2020

This report describes key trends in migrations in the Balkans region, detailing information about the number of people on the move, demography (age, sex, country of origin, etc), behavioral patterns, and routes in use - with a focus on children, particularly unaccompanied children.

U.S. Border Expulsions Further Jeopardize Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Minors in the Time of COVID-19

Evan Harris - CHLB Scholarship, 2020

The author of this article argues that "by authorizing the rapid expulsion of vulnerable persons despite limited epidemiological justification as well as clear legal alternatives, the order stands as a gross violation of the United States’ historical policy to welcome and protect those seeking refuge at our borders."

The development of a computer-based information system to inform social work interventions with unaccompanied minors

Sanfelici, Mara; Mordeglia, Silvana - Relational Social Work, 2020

This article describes the development of an information system, built in order to monitor the data gathered in the context of a pilot project for early child protection interventions with unaccompanied minors.

View Article

A Lifeline at Risk: COVID-19, Remittances and Children

Gilmar Zambrana Cruz and Gwyther Rees - UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, 2020

This briefing paper outlines the potential risks of reduction in remittances due to the pandemic for children in households receiving remittances and what can be done to minimize these risks.