Premium
Migration Pessimism and the Subjective Well‐Being of Migrant Households in Mexico
Author(s) -
JONES RICHARD
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
bulletin of latin american research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1470-9856
pISSN - 0261-3050
DOI - 10.1111/blar.12265
Subject(s) - happiness , pessimism , cohesion (chemistry) , argument (complex analysis) , migrant workers , economics , demographic economics , labour economics , sociology , economic growth , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , chemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , epistemology
A new migration pessimism argues that the economic benefits of international labour migration for migrant households may not justify the social costs. This article provides a test of this argument based on the author's survey of 304 households in J erez municipio (municipality), Z acatecas, M exico, in 2009. The results indicate that active households (those with at least one migrant abroad) perceived their economic situation to have improved more, but both their social cohesion and their happiness to be less than those of non‐active households. S ocial cohesion (family unity and maintenance of values) is shown to be pivotal in the happiness differential enjoyed by the non‐active households.