Behavioral Outcomes of Children Left Behind due to parental migration in Southern Wollo, Ethiopia: Implications for intervention

Abstract

Despite the advantages of remittance from parental migration on poverty reductions,
short-term economic growth, and the material well-being of children, a significant
part of the story is omitted. This article explored the impact of parental migration as
perceived by children left behind in Southern Wollo, Ethiopia, whose either one or
both parents migrated abroad. Accordingly, data were qualitatively gathered from 13
children whose parents migrated from two woredas of the zone. The results of the study
suggested that despite children’s awareness of the reasons for their parents’ migration
they do not want them to migrate abroad leaving them behind. It was also found that
left-behind children experienced isolation, longing, sadness, lack of motivation in
schooling fas a result of their parents’ migration. The study recommends that to address
the problem families, governmental and non-governmental organizations that have a
stake in children’s lives shall play a role.