[Proposal]

Impact of mother’s migration on child’s holistic development

Table of content

1.     Background …………………………………………………………………………….1

2.     Rational…………………………………………………………………………………2

3.     Research questions…………….………………………………………………………..3

4.     Aims and objectives…………………………………………………………………….3

5.     Literature review………………………………………………………………………..4

6.     Methodology……………………………………………………………………………4

References………………………………………………………………………………5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.1 Introduction

Holistic development is crucial in the learning stage regardless of a child’s age and educational level (Sandi Schuartz). At home, parents can use holistic education in the role as a primary educator to start their kids on the proper path of success. A holistic approach prevents the development of risky behaviors and underachievement. It encourages children to explore all their - intelligence and capacities and see the world in all its wholeness.

A mother as a primary educator   can use the holistic approach including recognizing - identifying, teaching, counselling, supporting, challenging, encouraging and including children in their own development. Holistic child development has five elements such as personal growth, social skills, emotional understanding, intellectual development and environmental values.     

Sri Lanka has inherited a glorious and proud history. Its people have lived mostly based on agriculture and nurtured many cultural and socio – economic values. With the introduction of the open economy in the 20^th century, these attitudes changed dramatically, and people became more money oriented in a capitalized society.  Further, ordinary people wanted to improve their lives somehow.  As a result, they had to find new ways of earning money rather quickly. Migration of people for foreign employment started in such a background. Women migrants left the country beginning in - the early 80’s - and it continued to -increase till 1996. This had a - significant effect on the country’s economy, politics, environment and society.

Sri Lanka is one of the largest labor exporting country in South Asia at present. It is estimated during the year 2018. - around - 211,459 persons, which includes 39% of women, have migrated abroad  for work – and  most of them are working as  house maids,

The impact of globalization has increased women’s access to economic resources and decision-making power, weakening patriarchal power relations in families. Women prefer to earn money in a foreign country as a remedy for their economic woes.  The reasons which push them for migration are lack of access to regular and substantial income and the inability to bear the rising cost of living. In addition, some of the major aspirations of the migrant women are to build houses, collect dowry for their girl children and to educate children. Further high indebtedness, domestic violence and - alcohol addiction of spouses are some of the other problems that force women to migrate.

However, women migration could be playing a key role in economic development in both family and country. the absence of the mother effects child’s holistic development. There are more than one million Sri Lankan children left behind by their mothers who have migrated overseas for employment. It is estimated that, about 75% of, the more than one million, who have migrated are married, and around 90% percentage of them have children. Each migrant mother on average has left two or three children behind. These children are vulnerable to issues such as neglect, violence and abuse in the absence of their mothers. They experience emotional problems and are more likely to drop out of school. Studies show that children left behind by migrating mothers have poorer mental health status compared to those whose mothers are employed in Sri Lanka. With the steady increase of child abuse and the violation of child rights reported daily in the country, its conceivable association with the phenomenon of mother migration cannot be ignored.

Through this it has been determined the mother’s migration for work abroad impacts the education level of the child and identifies the factors affecting their holistic development. Therefore, it is our duty to identify and analyze these issues and provide the policy makers with the necessary information they need to improve the wellbeing of children of migrants.

 

 

1.2 Rationale

According to some interviews of mother migrated families -, the primary incentive for migration was perceived as “to earn more money”, for both adults and children in the families. Migrations represented the best chance of survival and possible prosperity of the family, especially for the children. Parents felt “there is no other way” but to migrate to a middle east country.

            Therefore, parents, specially mothers in the rural area always give their full efforts to meet their children’s physical needs, but they fail to understand their emotional needs and attachment.

            Researchers says, parental migration, especially mother migration makes emotional distress in children. For example, loneliness, sadness and frustration were reported by children themselves, parents and caregivers. Children expect- the emotional attachment with the parents Through celebrating their special occasions such as birthdays, school functions especially school vacation etc. However - children of migrant mothers say that they felt so much emptiness without their mother at their special occasions. Because there is no one who can replace a mother’s role in  a child’s emotional need.

            Some grandparents take risk- to take care of their grandchildren during their parents’ absence. Because - their support is essential to protect children from risks of psychosocial well-being due to their parental absence. Many children became much closer to caregivers / grandparents than their parents. However, some grandparents were not able to offer academic guidance to them and the generation gap as a huge problem between the grandparents and children. Therefore, grandmothers struggle to fulfill their daughter’s responsibilities to their grandchildren. One of a boy’s grandmother said she couldn’t handle her grandson who would not listen to her or communicate with her much.

            Further, children who are living with their father’s care also face more issues specially a girl child fails to get full support for her needs from her father. Sometimes father would be a drunken person which places  the - children’s life  at - risk,  and the -children’s struggles will not be stopped until their mother’s return.  

      

1.3 Research questions

The questions will have three main section namely demographics of child and the parents, information regarding the mother migration and educational details. The first part is focusing on the social demographic features and the characteristic of the parent and the child. The second part of the questionnaire will assess the information regarding the mother migration and aftereffects on child’s holistic development such as how this child feels, does this child feel comfortable to be with father or the other caregivers. The third part will focus on educational details of the child including school attendance and end of the year examination marks on five main subjects namely Tamil, English, Science, mathematics and religion, and the attendance and class teacher’s observation and concern from school records.     

1.4 Aim and objectives

 

1.5 Literature review

One of the famous photographers, Dorothea Lange (1936) says, a migrant mother has become an icon of the greatest depression. Even though migration for employment would be a great support to meet their economic troubles; the disappearance of the mother will  result in  depression in both mother and children.

The traditional family, consisting of two parents and their biological children, is the best environment for raising children (Lansford etal. 2001). - Children living in a two-parent household have better outcomes than their peers who do not (Lansford ets 2001). - children living with the two parents have the opportunity benefit from two role models (Barrat and Turner, 2006).

Research exploring single parenthood, whether through choice, death or separation and divorce is shown to have adverse consequences on child development and adjustment (Belsky and Pasco – Fearon, 2011). Child development is significantly associated with the time and attention that the child receives from parents or caregivers. Magnuson and Berger (2007) argue that single parents are significantly disadvantaged with regard to parenting in terms of the time they can give to their children. As a result of parental separation, time for a  lone parent to engage in play with their child is reduced, which has a major impact on the child’s social, emotional and cognitive development (Ginsburg, 2007)      

 

1.6 Methodology

The analysis will be carried out by using a cross-sectional survey research method. A cross sectional survey offers an opportunity to gather data and test this across child development centers. A cross-sectional analysis will be considered relevant for the time period over which data will be obtained, which will be one point in time across child development centers. It will be an ideal as the researcher intended to collect descriptive data that is given statistical treatment to allow hypotheses testing to arrive at an objective conclusion (cooper and Schindler, 2003). 

The research will be taken place from 2 districts, which recorded number of female migrant departures, as  domestic workers and specific child abuses reported  of children of migrants. These two districts will be selected for field investigations. - -10 child development centers from these two districts  will be selected ,which include rural, urban and plantation areas.  Interviews will take place with returned migrants and family members of the housemaid migrant workers who are still overseas such as- husband of the migrant, parents of the migrant and eldest child.

In addition to the survey, focal group discussions will be conducted with the child development associates, teachers, child probation officers and divisional representative of the foreign employment bureau. Findings will be used as the supportive document to explain survey findings. The study will be addressed to policy makers of child development sectors as its choice of respondents, who bear the most significant responsibility for  - decision making. The data will be analyzed using statistics, both descriptive and inferential, since the main research question is to examine the effects of one set of several or more variables. Another set of two or more variables can be expected or explained, multiple correlation will be used to analyze the multivariate relationships between challenges faced by mother migrated children who living in poverty areas.

To evaluate the hypotheses, output as the dependent variable and measures of challenges faced by children on their holistic development, will be used as the predictive variables.

 

Reference

1.     Senaratna BCV, Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2012:41(2):71-75

2.     Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment statistical handbook on migration 2003. Colombo: Research division of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment;2004

3.     Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. Annual statistical report of foreign employment 2018. Available from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19bIoiLYxy4_O9U98Du-4zbP3RGr5Mqp5/view  

4.     Zhao et al. International Journal for Equality in Health (2018) 17:80 https://doi.org.101186/s12939-018-0795-z

5.     Dr. R.M. Susantha Perera MBBS(Col) DCH(SL) MD Paed(SL) DCH(UK) FRCPCH(UK) FRCP(Edin) Consultant Pediatrician, Impact of mother migration in Sri Lanka, Sunday Island e-paper September 30, 2015

6.     “Restrictions on female migrant workers discriminatory or improving family wellbeing?” article DailyMirror online paper Fri, 3^rd Apr 2020

7.     P L Dissanayake, N V Chandrasekara and D D M Jayasundara Europian International Journal of Science and Technology Vol.3 No.1 January, 2015 www.eijst.org.uk       

8.     Sandi Schuartz, science writer, positive phycology and environmental expert (available from: http://happysciencemom.com/child-development/)