February 2012

IZA DP No. 6374: The Impact of Migration on Family Left Behind

published in: A. F. Constant, K. F. Zimmermann (eds.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, Edward Elgar 2013, Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, pp. 293-308

This paper addresses the effects of migration on families left behind and offers new evidence on the impact of migration on elderly parents. After discussing the identification issues involved in estimation, I review the literature on the effects of migration on the education and health of non-migrant children as well as the labor supply of non-migrant spouses. Finally, I address the impact of adult child migration on contributions toward non-migrant parents as well as the effects on parental health. Results show that elderly parents receive lower time contributions from all of their children when one child migrates.