Alone but better off? Adult child migration and health of elderly parents in Moldova

Marcus Böhme, Ruth Persian and Tobias Stöhr
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Tobias Heidland

No 1876, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Abstract: Increasing labor migration and simultaneous aging of societies are two important demographic developments many poor countries face. Elderly people who are left behind may experience a decrease in welfare when their children migrate. This paper investigates the e ect of migration on various dimensions of elderly health using unique data from Moldova, which has one of the highest emigration rates in the world. We nd positive migration e ects on the body mass index (BMI), mobility and self-reported health. No e ects are found on depression and cognitive capacity. We trace these positive outcomes to an income e ect which leads to improvements in diet and a reallocation of time use from subsistence farming to leisure and sleep. These positive e ects seem to compensate the elderly for decreasing social contact with their migrant family members.

Keywords: international migration; elderly health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 I12 I15 J14 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/83982/1/769842429.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Alone but better off? Adult child migration and health of elderly parents in Moldova (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1876

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