Infants on the move: Residential mobility in single parent households in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Infants on the move: Residential mobility in single parent households in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Infancy is a stage of the life course where the circumstances and consequences of residential mobility are poorly understood. This paper explores the migration of infants born into households with their mother but not father in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; a setting where childcare arrangements are often dynamic and there have been increases in female internal migration and labour force participation. The study utilises event history analysis to study the occurrence and correlates of infant migration drawing on data from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System (n=8865). The results show 16% of children are engaged in accompanied migration by their second birthday and a further 6% are engaged in unaccompanied migration. Accompanied migration is associated with infants whose mothers migrated into the household a short time prior to their birth; suggesting mothers return temporarily before childbirth. Unaccompanied infant migration is associated with having a younger mother, or having a mother who dies or out-migrates. The findings suggest household composition at the origin has an important influence on infant mobility, that a substantial proportion of infants who migrate are not accompanied, but there are nonetheless interrelationships between maternal life events and infants’ migration. Further, the paper demonstrates the value of child-centric analyses for understanding young children’s residential mobility in contexts where infants do not necessarily migrate concurrently to parents and the value of longitudinal data for examining the interplay among migration, residential histories and other life events amongst young children and their families.
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993
Bennett, Rachel
53222607-43bd-46d3-9448-1599fd785ac0
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993
Bennett, Rachel and Hosegood, Victoria
(2017)
Infants on the move: Residential mobility in single parent households in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Population Research and Policy Review.
(Submitted)
Abstract
Infancy is a stage of the life course where the circumstances and consequences of residential mobility are poorly understood. This paper explores the migration of infants born into households with their mother but not father in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; a setting where childcare arrangements are often dynamic and there have been increases in female internal migration and labour force participation. The study utilises event history analysis to study the occurrence and correlates of infant migration drawing on data from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System (n=8865). The results show 16% of children are engaged in accompanied migration by their second birthday and a further 6% are engaged in unaccompanied migration. Accompanied migration is associated with infants whose mothers migrated into the household a short time prior to their birth; suggesting mothers return temporarily before childbirth. Unaccompanied infant migration is associated with having a younger mother, or having a mother who dies or out-migrates. The findings suggest household composition at the origin has an important influence on infant mobility, that a substantial proportion of infants who migrate are not accompanied, but there are nonetheless interrelationships between maternal life events and infants’ migration. Further, the paper demonstrates the value of child-centric analyses for understanding young children’s residential mobility in contexts where infants do not necessarily migrate concurrently to parents and the value of longitudinal data for examining the interplay among migration, residential histories and other life events amongst young children and their families.
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Submitted date: 23 October 2017
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Local EPrints ID: 416920
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/416920
ISSN: 0167-5923
PURE UUID: 076f87ac-c10d-4cf2-beae-df7ec30be4e0
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Date deposited: 15 Jan 2018 17:30
Last modified: 23 Feb 2023 02:56
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Author:
Rachel Bennett
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