Publications

Current times are characterized by unprecedented migration levels: millions of people are on the move worldwide. Thus, understanding why people decide to migrate is a major goal of policymakers and international organizations, and migration has become a prominent issue on the global research agenda. Traditional migration drivers can be divided into reasons to leave (‘push’ factors) and reasons to migrate (‘pull’ factors), and include income deprivation, dissatisfaction with public services and institutions in the home country, conflict and war, climate change, and social networks abroad. In this paper, we focus our attention on children’s well-being as a potential migration driver. We investigate it by using the Gallup World Poll, a  repeated cross-section dataset of a survey conducted in more than 150 countries from 2006 to 2016. We estimate the association between planned and intended migration and children’s perceived well-being using logit models with standardized coefficients, robust standard errors, and year and country fixed effects. Estimates reveal a positive and statistically significant association between child-related concerns, migration intent and plans. In particular, the probability of individuals having migration intent and plans increases where they report lower levels of satisfaction with child-related issues, as measured by the Youth Development Index, an index driven by indicators of respect for children and satisfaction with the education system. Moreover, children’s well-being affects more individuals living in households with children than those without. Finally, migration is a child- and youth-related phenomenon: young individuals would like to migrate, and plan to do so, more than older individuals.

This quarterly digest synthesizes the latest research findings in adolescent well-being over the previous three months. Key themes in this latest edition include adolescents in humanitarian contexts. The sections cover News, Upcoming Events, Resources and Latest Research to help practitioners keep informed and up-to-date in the field of working with young people.

The study was initiated with twin aims: improving understanding of child trafficking and responses in the region; and contributing to the international discourse on child trafficking by examining the linkages between anti-trafficking responses and child protection systems. Although the study was conceived with a primary focus on trafficking, its scope is much broader. It analyses how the general principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child are applied in relation to those children vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The study confirms that the Nordic countries have indeed made significant − and continuously evolving − attempts to address the issue of child trafficking, including through setting up relevant institutions, developing action plans and allocating budgets. However, while this has meant that specialized expertise is available for specific groups of children, it has sometimes also led to fragmentation of services, leaving some children unprotected. The research also finds that many existing gaps may be bridged by consistent and strengthened implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the same time, the study highlights that there is a way to achieve a fuller realization of rights for children who are vulnerable.

The study was initiated with twin aims: improving understanding of child trafficking and responses in the region; and contributing to the international discourse on child trafficking by examining the linkages between anti-trafficking responses and child protection systems. Although the study was conceived with a primary focus on trafficking, its scope is much broader. It analyses how the general principles of the Convention of the Rights of the Child are applied in relation to those children vulnerable to trafficking and other forms of exploitation. The study confirms that the Nordic countries have indeed made significant − and continuously evolving − attempts to address the issue of child trafficking, including through setting up relevant institutions, developing action plans and allocating budgets. However, while this has meant that specialized expertise is available for specific groups of children, it has sometimes also led to fragmentation of services, leaving some children unprotected. The research also finds that many existing gaps may be bridged by consistent and strengthened implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. At the same time, the study highlights that there is a way to achieve a fuller realization of rights for children who are vulnerable.

This paper studies child migration in Argentina, Chile and South Africa. It defines child migrants as under 18 year olds whose usual residence was in a different country or province five years prior to census. The paper estimates the scale of child migration; compares relative magnitudes of internal and international migration; and considers sensitivity to alternative definitions of migration. Second, it examines family structures within which migrant children live at destinations, defining children who are co-resident with adult parents and siblings as dependent, and those outside of these close family members, as independent. Third, the internal/international and in/dependent distinctions are analysed jointly to describe some social-economic characteristics of the four sub-groups of migrant children.

This paper focuses on independent migrant children, defined as below 18 years old, who choose to move from home and live at destinations without a parent or adult guardian. It summarises quantitative and qualitative research, and uses this to reflect on research agendas and global debates towards linking migration and development. The paper surveys historical evidence on linkages between children’s migration and societal development in earlier periods of modernisation, and identifies parallels to contemporary developing countries. The contemporary situation in developing countries is described in terms of: (1) numerical scale; (2) individual and family characteristics of the children involved; (3) decision-makers and decision-making processes in children’s movements; (4) why it happens, including from children’s viewpoints; (5) modes of movements; and (6) situations of children at destinations. The paper considers the extent to which children may demand migration opportunities, and how this demand may be met partly with forms of movement specific to children. Research strategies are discussed to provide a bridge to development issues, including conceptualization of children’s independent movements, children’s labour migration, migration statistics and selection of who migrates. A final section draws on the review to reflect on global debates in child development and societal development.

Процесс международной интеграции ярче высветил многие проблемы, и не в последнюю очередь рост масштабов бедности и неравенства между странами и внутри стран. Это относится как к странам Центральной и Восточной Европы и Содружества Независимых Государств, так и к другим регионам мира. После краха коммунистических режимов вместо 8 стран, существовавших в 1989 году, к середине 1990-х годов образовалось 27. Рыночные реформы не только принесли ногочисленные выгоды и преимущества, но и породили нестабильность. Сегодня жизнь детей в этом регионе совсем не такая, как у их родителей, – шире перспективы, больше свободы и возможностей выбора, но при этом и больше бедности, неравенства и риска.

L’Innocenti Social Monitor 2004 prende in esame la povertà dei bambini in un mondo sempre più integrato, affrontando il problema da quattro diversi punti di vista: 'Crescita economica e povertà dei bambini' fa un esame della situazione dei bambini che subiscono la povertà legata al reddito familiare e registra che dalla fine degli anni novanta una costante crescita economica ha ridotto la proporzione di persone che vivono in famiglie con reddito inferiore al minimo nazionale di sussistenza. Questo significa che una quota crescente della popolazione di bambini in tutta la regione corre il rischio di crescere nella povertà. 'Integrazione economica, mercato del lavoro e bambini' si occupa del processo d’integrazione nell’economia globale, misurata sulla base del commercio e del volume di investimenti esteri diretti. L’integrazione economica è aumentata in tutta la regione, ma è particolarmente concentrata nei paesi dell’Europa centrale e del Baltico che sono diventati membri dell’UE. L’analisi mostra perciò che i convenzionali meccanismi di adeguamento del mercato hanno impoverito i bambini nelle aree svantaggiate di molti paesi. 'Tendenze dei movimenti migratori e implicazioni per le politiche pubbliche' rileva che dagli anni ottanta in poi le migrazioni sono notevolmente aumentate in tutta la regione. Tra le ragioni di ciò vi sono la frammentazione delle nazioni, con il passaggio da 8 a 27 paesi all’inizio degli anni novanta, il che ha spinto molti ad emigrare, in molti casi per fuggire da conflitti o persecuzioni. L’articolo sottolinea l’esigenza che i governi dei paesi sia di origine sia di destinazione gestiscano meglio il fenomeno e rafforzino i canali legali di emigrazione nella regione. 'I giovani e le droghe: aumentano i rischi per la salute' indaga le conseguenze sulla salute dell’uso del tabacco, dell’alcol e degli stupefacenti illegali sui giovani, in particolare il legame tra consumo di stupefacenti e decessi di giovani nella regione.

Innocenti Social Monitor 2004 reviews recent socio-economic trends in the 27 countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It examines child poverty in an integrating world from four different perspectives: Economic Growth and Child Poverty looks at children in poverty related to family income and indicates that since the late 1990s steady economic growth has reduced the proportion of people living in households with incomes below national subsistence minima. Despite years of good intentions and more recent economic growth, large numbers of children in the region remain trapped in poverty. Economic Integration, Labour Markets and Children finds that integration into the global economy, as measured by trade and volumes of foreign direct investment, has grown across the region, but is particularly concentrated in the new EU member countries. It shows that conventional market adjustment mechanisms have impoverished children in disadvantaged areas of many countries. Migration Trends and Policy Implications finds that migration has grown greatly in the region since the 1980s; reasons for this upsurge include the fragmentation of nations from eight countries into 27 at the start of the 1990s, causing many people to migrate. The article stresses the need for governments in both originating and receiving countries to better manage migration and increase avenues for legal migration across the region. Young People and Drugs: Increasing Health Risks, investigates the health consequences of the use of tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs by children and young people, particularly the links between drug use and young people’s deaths across the region. Additionally, the Statistical Annex covers a broad range of indicators for the years 1989 to 2002-2003,including population trends, births and fertility, mortality, family formation, health, education, child protection, crime, income, as well as a comprehensive statistical profile of each country in the region.