The Impact of Parents’ Overseas Employment on Educational Outcomes of Filipino Children

Abstract

Family structure, household resources, numbers of siblings competing for those resources, and parents’ own educational attainment are often important predictors of children's education outcomes. Overseas migration of parents from the Philippines has resulted in increasing numbers of long-term separations of parents from each other and from their children. Western-based analyses might predict negative education outcomes for children as a result of parental absence. We find that separations caused by overseas migration often are either neutral or can have positive effects on schooling outcomes, at least among older children. Girls fare better in terms of educational attainment than do boys overall. Boys are often more affected by background variables, including parents’ international migration.