print logo

"New Insights on the Effects of Migration on Child Well-Being" -- World Leaders are Called on to Connect These Dots

“Migrant Youths and Children of Migrants in a Globalized World,” the focus of the September volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, looks at international child migration through the lens of child development.  With the backdrop of changing migration patterns, the researchers seek to identify policies and institutions that can ensure that children who migrate integrate and succeed in their new homes.

As world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, women and children are certainly part of the discussions<http://www.devex.com/en/news/blogs/a-pledge-for-every-woman-every-child?blog_id=the-development-newswire&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRogv6jIZKXonjHpfsX77OQlXqSg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YAGSMB0dvycMRAVFZl5nQhdDOWN>.  Leaders routinely fail, however, to address how changing migration patterns have a profound effect on children.  New research sheds light on the connection between immigration patterns and child well-being, and should be central to many of the U.N. policy discussions.

“Migrant Youths and Children of Migrants in a Globalized World,” the focus of the September volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, looks at international child migration through the lens of child development.  With the backdrop of changing migration patterns, the researchers seek to identify policies and institutions that can ensure that children who migrate integrate and succeed in their new homes.

The volume details how the patterns of migration have changed over the past 40 years – from the sheer increase in the number of people migrating to the directional changes in migration -- while underscoring the demographic changes of migrants and the challenges facing migrant youth.  Three key migration issues are highlighted:  education; family, fertility, and the lifecycle timing of migration; and health.

The volume was co-edited by Alícia Adserà, research scholar and lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School and the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, and Marta Tienda, the Maurice P. During ’22 Professor in Demographic Studies and professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University.

The co-editors note, “The articles in this volume offer new insights on child migration, social integration and child well-being, drawing comparisons from traditional and ‘new’ immigrant-receiving nations and providing important recommendations for successful integration of youths with migration backgrounds.”


Published by Sage, the volume features the following articles:

*   “Comparative Perspectives on International Migration and Child Well-being” by Alícia Adserá and Marta Tienda
*   “Migrant Youths’ Educational Achievement: The Role of Institutions” by Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, Mathias Sinning, and Steven Stillman
*   “Educational Achievement Gaps between Immigrant and Native Students in Two “New” Immigration Countries: Italy and Spain in Comparison” by Davide Azzolini, Philipp Schnell, and John R. B. Palmer
*   “The Educational Expectations of Children of Immigrants in Italy” by Alessandra Minello and Nicola Barban
*   “Child-Parent Separations among Senegalese Migrants to Europe: Migration Strategies or Cultural Arrangements?” by Amparo González-Ferrer, Pau Baizán, and Cris Beauchemin
*   “Age at Immigration and the Adult Attainments of Child Migrants to the United States” by Audrey Beck, Miles Corak, and Marta Tienda
*   “Fertility Patterns of Child Migrants: Age at Migration and Ancestry in Comparative Perspective” by Alícia Adserà, Ana M. Ferrer, Wendy Sigle-Rushton, and Ben Wilson
*   “Nativity Differences in Mothers’ Health Behaviors: A Cross-National and Longitudinal Lens” by Margot Jackson, Sara McLanahan, and Kathleen Kiernan
*    “Race/Ethnic and Nativity Disparities in Child Overweight in the United States and England” by Melissa L. Martinson, Sara McLanahan, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
*    “How Do Children of Mixed Partnerships Fare in the United Kingdom? Understanding the Implications for Children of Parental Ethnic Homogamy and Heterogamy” by Lucinda Platt

“As the nations of the world gather for this year’s United Nations General Assembly, it is our hope that the delegates look at these critical issues impacting our world’s children,” say Adserà and Tienda.  “The findings in this volume can help leaders shape policies that will have a profound positive effect on the world’s migrating children.”

A summary and the full introduction to the volume are available<http://wws.princeton.edu/news/AnnalsMigrantYouthStory/>.


If you would like to order copies of the full journal, please contact Sage contact customer service at journals@sagepub.com<mailto:journals@sagepub.com> or 1-800-818-7243.

 

Tags: ["migration", "child research", "migration patterns", "globalisations"]
Published Oct. 3, 2012 1:02 PM - Last modified Apr. 17, 2013 3:19 PM