Left-behind Families Research Articles

Self-reported Symptoms of Depression Among Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrants and Left-Behind Family Members

There were an estimated 247 million rural-to-urban migrant workers in China in 2016, yet at a national level, there is scant evidence on the association of migration with mental health among migrants and their left-behind family members. To examine the association of rural-to-urban migration with symptoms of depression among migrants and left-behind family members aged 45 years and older. Using representative cross-sectional data of 14 332 middle-aged and older adults from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of depressive symptoms with rural-to-urban migration status in urban areas and the association of depressive symptoms with left-behind status in rural areas. The statistical analysis was performed from January to August 2018. Migration status (defined as having a rural hukou [household registration record]) in urban areas and left-behind status (defined as having a spouse or child living in another area) in rural areas. Depressive symptoms measured on the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D-10) scale. A total of 14 332 middle-aged and elderly participants (mean [SD] age, 59.84 [9.51] years; 7394 [51.6%] women) were included, of whom 4404 (30.7%) lived in urban areas and 9928 (69.3%) lived in rural areas. In urban areas, 1607 participants (36.2%) were rural-to-urban migrants, and the remaining 2797 participants (72.8%) were local residents. In rural areas, 3405 participants (34.3%) were left-behind family members, and the remaining 6523 participants (65.7%) were not. Compared with urban residents, rural-to-urban migrants had higher CES-D-10 scores after adjustment for covariates (β = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.08-1.40; P = .03; standard errors clustered at the household level henceforth). Compared with intact-family rural residents, left-behind spouses had higher CES-D-10 scores after adjustment for covariates (β = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.05-1.03; P = .03). Rural-to-urban migration in China was associated with poor mental health for migrants and their left-behind spouses. Short-term policies, such as building community social facilities, may prove effective, but long-term solutions should address issues related to economic and social exclusions and the lack of a social security system in rural China.

‘They could picture me, or I could picture them’: ‘Displaying’ family life beyond borders through mobile photography

ABSTRACT Taking photographs has been an integral part of family life. However, recent technological innovations in mobile communication have paved the way for diverse use of photographic images in a household. This paper investigates how 21 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Melbourne, Australia, and their left-behind family members in the Philippines deploy mobile photography to perform and embody visual co-presence. By examining the data based on in-depth interviews, photo elicitation and field notes, the study uncovers the role of images in enabling the ‘display’ (Finch, J. 2007. Displaying families. Sociology, 41(1), 65–81) of familial roles, responsibilities, and values. Notably, by taking into account how socio-cultural and socio-technological forces inform photographic practices, this study identifies and proposes four dimensions of visual co-presence, including casual, practical, curated, and strategic. Consequently, images are broadly understood as important tools in bridging and reclaiming family life as disrupted by the uneven consequences of a global economy in the Philippines. In sum, the study aims to unpack the paradoxical consequences of mobile photography in the maintenance of transnational domesticity.

Are left-behind families of migrant workers at increased risk of attempted suicide? \u2013 a cohort study of 178,000+ individuals in Sri Lanka

BackgroundThere are an estimated 258 million international migrants worldwide. In Asia low-skilled workers often emigrate on a temporary basis (2–3 years) without their families. There is significant concern over the mental health and wellbeing of left-behind families in this region. No previous study has examined whether the risk of suicidal behaviour is elevated in left-behind family members.MethodsCohort study using baseline data from a large randomised controlled trial in Sri Lanka (n = 178,730 participants; 8% households had a current temporary foreign migrant) and prospective hospital presentations of suicide attempts. Using multilevel Poisson regression models, we compared the risk of attempted suicide in households with left-behind and non-left-behind family members. We also investigated whether the sex of the migrant or the age/sex of the household member left behind altered any associations.ResultsThe risk of an attempted suicide was elevated in female migrant households (IRR 1.60 95% CI 1.38, 1.85), but not male migrant households (IRR 1.01 95% CI 0.76,1.36)) with strong evidence that risk differed for female vs. male migrant households (p-value = 0.005). We found no evidence that the age or sex of the left-behind household member altered the association observed.ConclusionsThis analysis suggests that members of households with a temporary female foreign migrant are at an increased risk of attempted suicide, but these findings must be interpreted with caution. The increased risk of suicidal behaviour in these households may be due to factors that were present before the migration and persist post-migration (e.g. household violence, poverty).

Impact of Labour Migration on Socioeconomic Position of Left-Behind Women in Bihar

While migration of men improves the social position of women in the left-behind family by transferring power and autonomy, it may also reinforce gender inequality. The present study aims to explore this migration–empowerment relationship by addressing the research question of whether labour migration brings about changes in gender relations and empowers women, measured in terms of intra-household decision-making and work participation. Using India Human Development Survey (2011–12) data, the paper assesses the social impact of labour migration on left-behind women in one of the highest out-migrating states in East India (Bihar). The study finds that migration of men is unlikely to improve women’s position, as family relations are governed by the institution of patriarchy, and economic vulnerability rather than emancipation is the reason for their participation in paid nondomestic work. The social cost of labour migration thus seems to outweigh its benefit in Bihar, as it does not initiate the process of empowerment and poses financial challenges.

Impact of migration on health and wellbeing of left-behind families: a systematic review

Impact of migration on health and wellbeing of left-behind families: a systematic review

Impact of migration on health and wellbeing of left-behind families: a systematic review

Impact of migration on health and wellbeing of left-behind families: a systematic review

Familization of rural–urban migration in China: evidence from the 2011 and 2015 national floating population surveys

ABSTRACTChina’s rural–urban migrants have for the past decades left-behind family members in the countryside, splitting the household into two or more locations, due to the hukou system and migrants’ household strategy. By analyzing two nationally representative floating population surveys conducted in 2011 and 2015, this paper examines whether family migration and family reunification have increased over time and whether household arrangements differ between migrant cohorts and between decades. The findings show that the nuclear-family arrangement, where the spouse and children join the pioneer migrant at the host location, is fast replacing the sole and couple-migration models that were prevalent among earlier, older migrants and cohorts. Over time, migrant families require fewer batches to reunite; their batch intervals become shorter; and more family members undertake the first move together. These findings underscore the importance of considering the family rather than the migrant as the basic unit of migration policy-making.

Families left behind at the source of migration: implications for career guidance practitioners

ABSTRACTIssues surrounding migration are receiving unprecedented attention at the global, regional, as well as national levels. However, a review of the literature shows that there is more focus on international migration compared to internal migration. Further, there is more emphasis on issues related to the migration destination rather than those at the source of migration. Using the cultural preparation process model as a framework, this paper aims to understand the career and livelihood planning needs of those who are left behind. The left-behind families of pine resin tappers in the Changar region of the Indian Himalayas are presented as a case study to draw the attention of career guidance and counselling professionals to this unattended population.

Migration and labor supply in Georgia: an empirical study

This paper explores the impacts of migration on the labor supply decisions of left-behinds. Based on the data from the Georgian Household Survey and employing the instrumental variable Probit regression, this study establishes a causal link between migration and labor market outputs in Georgia. Another goal of the study is to ascertain whether or not the impact of migration on the labor market outcomes of left-behinds depends on the migrant’s relationship to a household head. The results of the study suggest that international migration is an important predictor of the labor participation choices and the employment status of left-behinds and that these effects are robust to the control of remittances. However, the impact of migration on the labor market participation/inactivity decisions of left-behind family members differs substantially by the household status of the migrant as well as the gender of left-behinds. For left-behind females, the effect of migration on their labor participation decisions is significant and has a negative sign. For males, having a migrant in a household increases the probability of their participation in the labor market only when the migrant is a child from a nuclear family.

Recursive Male Out-migration and the Consequences at Source: A Systematic Review with Special Reference to the Left-behind Women

Male out-migration from rural to urban areas has amplified worldwide in the face of economic globalisation. Migration literature for long has engaged with the life of migrants at the destination and their support for the left-behind families in the form of remittances. Explicit scholastic undertaking for the left-behind women and their life experiences has started to receive attention only recently. We take stock of the existing literature to examine this social process and debate it within a women empowerment-disempowerment framework. Following a systematic review of the ‘migration left-behind nexus’ literature, we find a clear trend of transformation in the gender role of women everywhere, especially in the form of ‘feminisation of agriculture’. This process is largely moderated by the nature and amount of remittances received at source. The resultant well-being and empowerment of women is shaped by the socio-cultural context within which migration takes place. Both positive and/or negative outcomes for left-behind women are recorded in the literature, although its choice as a conscious decision and its subsequent permanence in a society is debatable. We expect a deeper engagement of future research that takes up the migration-led women empowerment issue within the context of the general social transformation process.

Economic migration and the socio-economic impacts on the emigrant's family: A case of Ward 8, Gweru Rural district, Zimbabwe.

Gweru Rural district in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe has witnessed an increasing number of outward migrations of breadwinners, leaving behind a desperate environment for families. This study was motivated by the realisation that most of the sick left behind, the elderly and children would visit the health centres unaccompanied, risking taking prescribed drugs incorrectly, thus further compromising their health. The study sought to establish the socio-economic effects of international migration on family members left behind in ward 8 of Gweru Rural. The study adopted a qualitative case study approach. Focus group discussions, questionnaires and structured individual interviews were used to elicit for data. Non-probability sampling design was used because of small samples available. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were particularly used. Data were manually analysed and presented both qualitatively and quantitatively. The study revealed that international migration particularly to South Africa, especially by non- professionals, was not yielding the much expected economic gains; instead it was characterised by more negative social effects on the emigrant’s family. The study recommends that emigrants should consider migrating with their loved ones and, where it is not feasible, to put in place sound alternative caregiving arrangements. The study has provided an insight into international migration and its effects on left-behind families. However, a more comprehensive and quantitative survey remains critical to delving deeper into this migration phenomenon, particularly on how both the emigrant and left-behind spouses handle the issue of conjugal rights.

Being seen: visibility, families and dynamic remittance practices

This paper seeks to respond to the limited discussion about why remittances cease, by exploring the dynamic meaning of remittances to senders. We interviewed 43 labor migrants in Israel about remittance practices. We discovered that many migrants no longer regularly remit, and those who do remit changed their initial pattern for remitting, often for reasons independent of a left behind family’s financial need or a sender’s financial ability to send. Remittances help migrants manage the stress from labor migration by providing identity benefits. Labor migrants often describe themselves as ‘invisible’ to both left-behind families and people in the receiving country. Remittances can render migrants visible by generating new roles in the family and generating a positive self-image when experiencing downward mobility due to dirty, dangerous and dull work. If migrants form new families, their need to remit declines. If familial roles changes, value as a remitter declines, costs exceed benefits or because contracting partners change, remittance practices may change or cease. We show how social relations shape this visibility and new family contracts affect remittances practices. The findings have implications for understanding the multibillion-dollar remittances industry, immigrant incorporation, and transnational family relationships.

Home on the move: negotiating differential domesticity in family life at a distance

This article examines the ways in which 21 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Melbourne, Australia, and their left-behind family members in the Philippines use mobile media to re-stage, experience and negotiate home. Based on deploying in-depth interviews and visual methods, the findings show the reconstruction of a sense of dwelling through mobile devices. This transformation is shaped by the performance of ritualistic practices, gender roles and socioeconomic conditions. The study also uncovers how mediated mobilities are undermined by social structures and uneven technological infrastructures, paving the way for unstable, exclusionary and ambivalent experiences. Hence, members of the transnational Filipino family often negotiate such challenges by deploying various tactics to ensure that ties are maintained. By unravelling the differential and constrained mobile practices of the transnational Filipino family in forging a sense of at-homeness, the article attends to a critical conception of domesticity in the age of smartphones and mobile phone applications.

International labor migration and social change in rural Sindh, Pakistan

This study examines why and how labor migration from a village in Sindh, Pakistan to Saudi Arabia has influenced changes for the left-behind families and the community. We find that while migration impacts positively on the material conditions of individual migrants and their families in the village, the potential of migration to impact on other aspects of living conditions, social change and development at community levels is shaped and often limited by existing structures of power, including gender structures and other socio-political structures. In the absence of investment in school infrastructures by the state, remittances from migration have not translated into improved educational outcomes for the children of migrants. We also find that the male migrants are leveraging their new status in the family to exercise more choice in marriage matters with possible negative impact on women.

국내 네팔 결혼이주여성의 본국 가족에 대한 초국적 돌봄 연구

이 연구는 광주광역시에 거주하는 네팔 결혼이주여성을 대상으로 하여 이들의 본국 가족원에 대한 초국적 돌봄의 양상을 규명하고 있다. 네팔 결혼이주여성은 물질적이고 정서적인 지지와 지원, 네팔방문과 직접적 돌봄, 가족의 한국 초청을 통한 노동기회 제공 등 다양한 형식으로 본국 가족에 대한 돌봄을 초국적으로 실천하고 있다. 이러한 초국적 돌봄 실천 양상에 대한 적절한 이해를 위해서 이주여성을 한국 사회와 네팔 사회 사이에

“We’re not only here but we’re there in spirit”: Asymmetrical mobile intimacy and the transnational Filipino family

Organising, performing, and experiencing festive family rituals sustain relationships among family members. However, in recent times, high levels of human migration alongside the rapid development of digital communication technologies are reconfiguring family traditions. This paper investigates the ways in which 21 overseas Filipino workers in Melbourne, Australia, and their left-behind family members in the Philippines use mobile devices and communications platforms to restage festive family rituals. Employing a visual method and drawing on in-depth interviews, the empirical study uncovers the personalised and heterogenous practices of the transnational Filipino family in performing intimacy at a distance, paving the way for constructing copresence during festivities. Importantly, using the mobilities lens (Urry, 2007) as a framework for critical investigation, the findings show that a disproportionate level of network capital as informed by age, gender, and social class produces “asymmetrical mobile intimacy.” The present study also reveals how ambivalent feelings emerge due to technological asymmetries and parameters. Importantly, transnational families often negotiate such contradictory experiences through mobile device use. By comparing and contrasting the mobile practices of dispersed family members, the present study uncovers the hidden social inequalities perpetuated in a networked family life.

Migrant mothers, left-behind fathers: the negotiation of gender subjectivities in Indonesia and the Philippines

The distinct feminization of labour migration in Southeast Asia – particularly in the migration of breadwinning mothers as domestic and care workers in gender-segmented global labour markets – has altered care arrangements, gender roles and practices, as well as family relationships within the household significantly. Such changes were experienced by both the migrating women and other left-behind members of the family, particularly ‘substitute’ carers such as left-behind husbands. During the women’s absence from the home, householding strategies have to be reformulated when migrant women-as-mothers rewrite their roles (but often not their identities) through labour migration as productive workers who contribute to the well-being of their children via financial remittances and ‘long-distance mothering’, while left-behind fathers and/or other family members step up to assume some of the tasks vacated by the mother. Using both quantitative and qualitative interview material with returned migrants and left-behind household members in source communities in Indonesia and the Philippines experiencing considerable pressures from labour migration, this article explores how carework is redistributed in the migrant mother’s absence, and the ensuing implications on the gender roles of remaining family members, specifically left-behind fathers. It further examines how affected members of the household negotiate and respond to any changing gender ideologies brought about by the mother’s migration over time.

Meanings of Care: A Culture-Centered Approach to Left-Behind Family Members in the Countryside of China

Critical studies of health communication foreground the importance of meanings as organizing frameworks for constituting health. The contested and contradictory meanings articulated around health offer insights into the constraining and enabling roles of structures. Through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a village in China embedded within the activist framework of the culture-centered approach, this project explores understandings of family care amid left-behind families in rural China against the backdrop of the migration of the middle generation of working adults from families located in rural contexts to cities. We work with the culture-centered approach to explore local meanings of care, understanding everyday care as integral to the health of an aging population that has been erased from the discursive space by market reforms and the hegemonic narrative of national development in China.

‘If you are a foreigner in a foreign country, you stick together’: Technologically mediated communication and acculturation of migrant students

As migrant students cope with relocation challenges, communication with left-behind family and friends can enhance their well-being, while interactions with co-national and local students can facilitate their acculturation to the host country. This article studies Indonesian and Vietnamese university students in Singapore to understand the role that technologically mediated communication plays in facilitating migrant students’ adaptation and acculturation. Through a media deprivation exercise, it finds that communication with left-behind family and friends offers support but can monopolise the students’ free time and impede their interaction with locals. Social media communication also exacerbates the development of cultural silos that comprise only co-nationals. On the positive side, migrant students used the online realm as an acculturative space to better understand the host country’s attitudes towards foreigners, thereby better equipping them for interactions with locals. Migrant students must strike a balance between exploiting mediated communication links to their home identities and exploring host cultures.

Cross-space Consumption among Undocumented Chinese Immigrants in the United States

We consider cross-space consumption as a form of transnational practice among international migrants. In this paper, we develop the idea of the social value of consumption and use it to explain this particular form of transnationalism. We consider the act of consumption to have not only functional value that satisfies material needs but also a set of nonfunctional values, social value included, that confer symbolic meanings and social status. We argue that cross-space consumption enables international migrants to take advantage of differences in economic development, currency exchange rates, and social structures between countries of destination and origin to maximize their expression of social status and to perform or regain social status. Drawing on a multisited ethnographic study of consumption patterns in migrant hometowns in Fuzhou, China, and in-depth interviews with undocumented Chinese immigrants in New York and their left-behind family members, we find that, despite the vulnerabilities and precarious circumstances associated with the lack of citizenship rights in the host society, undocumented immigrants manage to realize the social value of consumption across national borders and do so through conspicuous consumption, reciprocal consumption, and vicarious consumption in their hometowns even without being physically present there. We conclude that, while cross-space consumption benefits individual migrants, left-behind families, and their hometowns, it serves to revive tradition in ways that fuel extravagant rituals, drive up costs of living, reinforce existing social inequality, and create pressure for continual emigration.