Labor Migration and Child Mortality in Mozambique

Scott T. Yabiku, Arizona State University
Victor Agadjanian, Arizona State University
Boaventura Cau, Arizona State University

The consequences of male labor migration for child mortality remain unclear. Labor migration could bring economic benefits to families that remain behind and thus help child survival. Alternatively, labor migration might be spurred by economic distress; the absence of a male adult could imperil the household’s well-being and ability to care of its members, increasing child mortality risks. We use longitudinal data from Mozambique to examine the association between male labor migration and under-five mortality in families that remain behind. Using a simple migrant/non-migrant dichotomy, we find no difference in mortality rates across migrant and non-migrant men's children. When we differentiate between economically successful and unsuccessful migration, however, stark contrasts emerge: children of successful migrants have the lowest mortality, followed by children of non-migrant men, followed by the children of unsuccessful migrants--who have the highest mortality. Our results emphasize the need to examine the complexity of men's labor migration experience.