Parental Overseas Migration and

Psychological Well-being of
Children at the Country of
Origin: Evidence from

CHAMPSEA Study (Thailand)

The views expressed in this presentation are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
views or policies of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the Asian Development Bank (ADB),
its Board of Directors, or the governments they represent. ADBI does not guarantee the accuracy of the
data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequences of their use.
Terminology used may not necessarily be consistent with ADB official terms.

Aree Jampaklay

Institute for Population and Social

Research
Mahidol University Thailand

To what extent and how overseas

migration of mother and of
father impacts the well-being of
the children at household of
origin?
- focuses on psychological wellbeing of the children

Started around

1970s, labor
migrants to middle-east

Men dominated,
Top destinations

15% women

Middle East,
Republic of Korea, and
Taipei,China

 CHAMPSEA

(Child Health and Migrant Parents in

Southeast Asia), 2008-2009

Funded by Wellcome Trust

University of St. Andrews and

National University of
Singapore and 4 countries of the study settings

Indonesia (Gadjah Mada University)

Philippines (Scalabrini Migration Center)
Viet Nam (Hanoi Asia-Pacific Study Center)
Thailand (Institute for Population and Social
Research, Mahidol University)

 CHAMPSEA (Thailand)
-Udonthani and Lampang
-Surveyed 1,030 hh/children, equal proportion
for

-migrant household and usual resident parents

-Young children (3-5) and older children (911)

-boys and girls

-3 sets of QNs for responsible adult, main carer,
and older child

-In-depth interview with 41 main carers

-Migration (current migration, past migration

experience)
-Childrens psychological well-being (SDQ whether
possible to have psychological problem)

-Remittances (amount received from migrant

parent(s) in the past 6 months)
-Main caretaker (who, well-being psychological health
-- SRQ20 whether having psychological problem)
-Household economic status (wealth and saving)
-Family functioning (APGAR)

-Other characteristics of the child (age, sex, parity)

Parents current migration

Father only current migrant

Mother only current migrant
Both parents current migrants
Both parents usually resident

Parents current and past migration

Current migrant abroad
Ever been migrant abroad
Never been migrant abroad

46.9
0.3
3.0
49.8

Father
49.9
20.4
29.7

Mother
3.3
9.3
87.4

Childrens psychological
well-being (SDQ)

% (N=990)

Normal (0-15)

73.7

Possible (16-18)

14.0

Problematic (19-40)

12.2

26.2%

Parents current
80.0

71.4 76.1

Overseas migrant
parent

60.0
40.0

28.6

Non-overseas
23.9

migrant parent

20.0
0.0
Normal

Possible or
problematic

NS

Fathers current and past

90.0
80.0
70.0

71.3

75.2 77.7
Current overseas

60.0

migrant

50.0
40.0

28.7

30.0

24.8 22.3

20.0

Never overseas migrant

Ever been overseas

10.0

migrant

0.0
Normal

Possible or
problematic

NS

Mothers
75.8

80.0
70.0

60.0

59.2

50.0

Ever been overseas

40.8

40.0
30.0

24.2

20.0

migrant

Never been overseas

migrant

10.0
0.0
Normal

Possible or
problematic

***

90.0

77.7

80.0
70.0
60.0

59.1

50.0

Carer is psychologically

41.0

40.0
30.0

problematic
22.3

20.0
10.0

Carer is psychologically
normal

***

0.0
Normal

Possible or
problematic

Fathers current and past

30.0

26.2

24.3

25.0
20.0

18.6

16.8

20.4
18.8

24.3
20.5

16.3

15.0

23.8
20.9

22.1

21.3

15.0
10.9

10.0
5.0

0.0
Very poor
Never overseas migrant

Poor

Moderate

Current overseas migrant

Rich

Very rich

Ever been overseas migrant

***

Fathers current and past

50.0
40.0
30.0

40.8
39.1
28.7

30.6

35.2

17.4

20.0

27.7
22.1

21.5
17.7

10.9

10.0

8.4

0.0
No saving

Not>20,000

Never overseas migrant

Ever been overseas migrant

Not>60,000

60,000+

Current overseas migrant

***

90.0
80.0
70.0

69.5

74.3

72.7 74.4

78.1

60.0

Very poor

50.0

Poor

40.0

30.5

30.0

25.7

Moderate

27.3 25.6
21.9

20.0

Rich

Very rich

10.0
0.0
Normal

Possible or problematic

NS

90.0
80.0
70.0

77.177.9
74.5
69.5

60.0

No saving

50.0

Not>20,000

40.0

30.5
25.5
22.9 22.2

30.0
20.0

Not> 60,000
60,000+

10.0
0.0
Normal

Possible or problematic

NS

2.3

Mother ever moved to work abroad***

The caretaker is psychologically

2.6

unhealthy***

2.8

The child aged 3-5***

0.5

1.5

2.5

Odds ratio

The model controls for remittances, households economic status

(wealth, saving), childs sex, childs parity, and family functioning

All other control variables are not significant in the logit model

Overseas migration of mother has a

negative impact on the psychological wellbeing of children at household of origin, but
overseas migration of father does not

The impact remains regardless of

remittances, household economic status,
other childs characteristics

Caretakers and the childrens well-beings

are closely connected

Policy should not only gear

towards maximizing the positive
effects of migration, but should
also address minimizing its
negative effects, especially of
mothers migration on the children
at household of origin

~ Thank You ~