Migration, Remittances, and Children's Schooling in Haiti
- In some communities, remittances raise school attendance for all children regardless of whether the household has members abroad.
- In other communities, the remittance effect is observed only among children in households without family out-migration.
- Household out-migration imposes an economic burden on remaining members and reduces children's school attendance.
- Remittances ameliorate the negative disruptive effect of out-migration on schooling in some migrating communities.
- Workers' remittances amounted to 21.5 percent of Haiti's GDP in 2006, compared with 9.6 percent in the Dominican Republic.
The authors examine the effect of remittances on schooling in Haitian communities with a high incidence of out-migration, in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, volume 630 (2010). The household survey they use was administered to one hundred households in 2000 and another two hundred in 2002, and the analysis covers 328 children aged six to seventeen. After addressing the endogeneity of remittance receipt, they find that in some communities remittances raise school attendance for all children whether or not the household has members abroad.
In other communities the effect appears only among children in households without family out-migration. Receipt of remittances lifts budget constraints and raises the likelihood of schooling, while the disruption of household out-migration imposes an economic burden and reduces attendance. The authors conclude that remittances offset the negative effect of out-migration on schooling in some migrating communities and contribute to human capital accumulation amid extreme poverty.
How to cite
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2010, Migration, Remittances, and Children's Schooling in Haiti, https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716210368112
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