Educational Selectivity of Migrants and Current School Enrollment of Children Left behind: Analyses in Three African Countries

Migration of household members is often undertaken to improve the well-being of individuals remaining in the household. Despite this, research has demonstrated inconsistent associations between migration and children’s well-being across sending areas and types of migration. To understand the degree to which different types of migration and migrants are associated with schooling, we analyze comparable data across three African countries differing in prevalence, type, and selectivity of migration. Results suggest that recent migration is differentially associated with left-behind children’s school enrollment across settings. When analyses are restricted to migrant-sending households, however, migrant selectivity is positively associated with school enrollment.