Are children an incentive or a disincentive for migration? Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

This study analyzes the influence of children on household migration decisions using data on current internal movement in Vietnam a country that has experienced significant rural–urban migration in the recent years. Families with children usually have three migration choices: move together, stay together or send only one parent to work afar. Using an instrumental variable approach, we show that having an additional child reduces the probability of household migration by 0.0115, while it increases the likelihood of fathers’ migration by 0.0121. These effects suggest that households with more children may be less mobile but may have a greater economic need for migration.