Internal and international parental migration and the living conditions of children in Ghana

Relatively little is known about the effects of parental migration on the living conditions of children who stay behind. Using survey data collected in 2010 from Ghanaian school children (11–18 years; N = 2100), this study investigates variations in children’s durable goods and private utilities when parents migrate internally or internationally compared to a control group of children who live with their parents. The study also investigates whether the effects are contingent upon the marital situation of the parents. The findings show that parental migration is not associated with poorer living conditions for Ghanaian children. Rather, specific factors, such as parental divorce, internal migration and the gender of the child, influence whether children experience a decline in their living conditions when parents migrate.