Poster #167 - The Influence of Transitions in Family Structure and Migration on Young People’s Educational Trajectories In Southeast Asia

• In Event: 2-002 - Special Poster Session 05 with Continental Breakfast Reception
  In Poster Session: PS 05 - International Section

Integrative Statement

Improving the life chances for the next generation is a major motivating force for sacrifices families make for their children. International migration is one such sacrifice, and yet, rising rates of out-migration and the ensuing parent-child separation are not the only significant social changes facing contemporary families across Asia: a growing acceptability of divorce and remarriage has also become more prevalent. To date there is scant evidence addressing how such family changes and parental migration influence young people’s human capital accumulation.

By putting a spotlight on young people’s educational trajectories, this study explores individual variations in the nature and course of educational pathways as well as transitions that punctuate these trajectories. Guided by the person-centered approach, this study applies growth profile analysis to identify change patterns of educational trajectories among young people (aged 9, 10, and 11 in 2008) over 8 years. We expect to describe several distinct pathways such as stable or transitory trajectories.

Linking family transitions to heterogeneity in the educational trajectories, we further examine whether the incidents of parental separation, divorce, or moving into a stepfamily across young people living in both migrant and nonmigrant households would disrupt transitions towards educational attainment.

The study exploits a two-wave longitudinal dataset from the Child Health and Migration Parents in South-East Asia (CHAMPSEA) project, with information about changes in family structure and academic grade and programs from 2008 to 2016 from Indonesia (N=428) and the Philippines (N=392). The descriptive statistics reveal that 8% of young adults in Indonesia and 7.2% in the Philippines experienced the dissolution of parents’ marriage while 7.4% of young adults in Indonesia and 3.3% in the Philippines are currently living with a stepparent. The analysis further suggests that as the young people age there is growing divergence in their educational pathways.

This study will offer insight into the diversity of educational trajectories across school transitioning years, as well as understanding how differences in the experiences of parental migration and changes in the family structure influence human capital attainment among young people in the two countries.

Authors

• Lucy Jordan, The University of Hong Kong
  Presenting Author

• Lue Fang, National University of Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elspeth Graham, University of St-Andrews
  Non-Presenting Author