Early years' migration in rural South Africa
Early years' migration in rural South Africa
Infancy represents a stage of the life course where the circumstances of migration are poorly understood, particularly in developing country contexts. In South Africa, infants often have complex living arrangements as care responsibilities are shared between multiple family members. Low marriage rates and high levels of male and female migration have contributed to dynamic life trajectories amongst parents. This paper explores the relationships between propensity to migrate in the early years and parental circumstances and life events, wider kin networks, housing quality and household composition. Discrete time event history modelling is employed to identify factors associated with migration in the first two years of life, using data from a demographic surveillance system in rural northern KwaZulu Natal. The results indicate that 19% of children born in the surveillance area between 2005 and 2008 migrated at least once by their second birthday. However, only a minority of the children who moved (17%) were engaged in whole household migration. Household migration was most common amongst children born into small two-parent households. The majority (84%) of infants who did not migrate with all other members of their household retained social membership of their initial household. This form of migration was associated with having social ties to other households. The influence of parental circumstances varied by whether children shared household membership with both parents or their mother only at birth. The findings contribute to understanding the contexts of early years migration and are an important step in unravelling the relationships between exposure to migration and wellbeing across childhood
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
11 September 2012
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993
Falkingham, Jane
8df36615-1547-4a6d-ad55-aa9496e85519
Bennett, Rachel, Hosegood, Victoria and Falkingham, Jane
(2012)
Early years' migration in rural South Africa.
British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
10 - 12 Sep 2012.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
Infancy represents a stage of the life course where the circumstances of migration are poorly understood, particularly in developing country contexts. In South Africa, infants often have complex living arrangements as care responsibilities are shared between multiple family members. Low marriage rates and high levels of male and female migration have contributed to dynamic life trajectories amongst parents. This paper explores the relationships between propensity to migrate in the early years and parental circumstances and life events, wider kin networks, housing quality and household composition. Discrete time event history modelling is employed to identify factors associated with migration in the first two years of life, using data from a demographic surveillance system in rural northern KwaZulu Natal. The results indicate that 19% of children born in the surveillance area between 2005 and 2008 migrated at least once by their second birthday. However, only a minority of the children who moved (17%) were engaged in whole household migration. Household migration was most common amongst children born into small two-parent households. The majority (84%) of infants who did not migrate with all other members of their household retained social membership of their initial household. This form of migration was associated with having social ties to other households. The influence of parental circumstances varied by whether children shared household membership with both parents or their mother only at birth. The findings contribute to understanding the contexts of early years migration and are an important step in unravelling the relationships between exposure to migration and wellbeing across childhood
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Published date: 11 September 2012
Venue - Dates:
British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2012-09-10 - 2012-09-12
Organisations:
Gerontology
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Local EPrints ID: 365844
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/365844
PURE UUID: e2724b2f-13c0-40d2-a6e2-548e4c2bdc3b
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Date deposited: 20 Jun 2014 13:54
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 02:02
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Author:
Rachel Bennett
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