New article co-authored by Cheryl Doss explores effects of youth migration on labour in African agrarian households
A new article co-authored by Senior Departmental Lecturer Cheryl Doss uses panel data from Ethiopia and Malawi to investigate how youth migration affects household labour, hired labour demand, and income, and whether these effects vary by migrant sex and destination.
The article is co-authored with Valerie Mueller and Agnes Quisumbing of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
The article finds that labour shortages arise from the migration of a head’s child. However, the migration of the head’s sons produces a greater burden, particularly on female heads/spouses (in Ethiopia) and brothers (in Malawi).
Gains from migration in the form of increased total net income justify the increased labour efforts in Ethiopia. Weaker evidence suggests households in Malawi substitute hired for migrant family labour at the expense of total household net income.
Valerie Mueller, Cheryl Doss & Agnes Quisumbing (2018) 'Youth Migration and Labour Constraints in African Agrarian Households' in Journal of Development Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2018.1430770