Gendered outcomes of parental migration on Thai youth’s transitions to adulthood: a longitudinal perspective

The scale of migration has increased exponentially in recent decades in much of Southeast Asia. Emerging longitudinal evidence suggests lasting impacts of parental migration on their children’s education and well-being. However, little is known about how parental migration during childhood shapes youth's transition to adulthood. This study thus used two waves of survey data collected in 2008–2010 and 2019 from households (N = 872) in Thailand to assess 1) the long-term impacts of parental migration on young adults’ labour activities, marriage, and childbearing, and 2) how these impacts vary based on which parent(s) migrated and whether they are international or internal migrants. We found that maternal/biparental migration, compared with paternal migration, more significantly affected young people’s labour activities and age at marriage. Moreover, these effects appear to be more pronounced for males than females. Additionally, parental migration’s impacts on youths’ transitional outcomes vary by internal or international migration of their parents. These results highlight the gender-specific and context-dependent nature of the long-term implications of parental migration. This study thus provides new empirical evidence to advance the understanding of the diverse patterns of transitions among Asian youth in the context of parental migration.