Gender and Migration Effects on Education and Health Outcomes: The Case of Ghana

Juan C. Guzman, Institute for Latino Studies
Mirja Sjoblom, World Bank Group

Although the effects of migration on education and health outcomes have received little attention, the gender effects of migration have received even less. Nonetheless, policy-makers in developing countries are drafting policies to stop women from migrating. Meanwhile, the effects of migration on education and health are still unclear. This paper seeks to measure the effect of migration and gender on children's education and health outcomes. This paper will use the Ghana Living Standard Survey 2005, which includes a module on migration with information on migrant socioeconomic status (SES) and remittance behavior. We expect education outcomes, in terms of school attendance, might improve as a result of male migration and worsen when females migrate, but that either effect may lessen with remittances. In health, we expect a SES gradient that together with migration and gender will have different impacts on the household's children.