Socio-economic inequities in mental health problems and wellbeing among women working in the apparel and floriculture sectors: testing the mediating role of psychological capital, social support and tangible assets.

BACKGROUND: It is still unknown whether the mechanisms proposed by the Reserve Capacity Model (RCM) explaining socio-economic health and wellbeing inequities in high income countries can be applied to low-income countries. This study investigates whether different reserve capacities (intra-, inter-personal, and tangible) can explain the association between relative socio-economic position (SEP) and wellbeing outcome measures among Ethiopian women working in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). METHOD: Using a cross-sectional design, we collected quantitative survey data among 2,515 women working in the apparel and floriculture sectors in Ethiopia, measuring GHQ-12 mental health problems, multi-dimensional wellbeing, relative SEP, psychological capital (PsyCap), social support (emotional and financial social support network), and tangible assets (e.g., owning mobile phone, having access to toilet facilities). We used cluster-adjusted structural equation modelling to test whether PsyCap, social support, and/or tangible assets mediate the association between relative SEP (IV) and GHQ-12 mental health problems and multi-dimensional wellbeing (DVs). RESULTS: PsyCap and the size of the financial support network significantly mediate the socio-economic gradient in both wellbeing outcomes. The size of the emotional social support network shows no association with multi-dimensional wellbeing and shows an unexpected negative association with GHQ-12 mental health problems scores, including a significant mediation effect. Tangible assets show no association with the wellbeing outcome measures and do not mediate socio-economic mental health problems and wellbeing inequities. CONCLUSIONS: The RCM can be applied in low-income countries, although in unexpected ways. Similar to findings from high-income countries, PsyCap and size of the financial social support network show significant mediation effects in explaining mental health problems and wellbeing inequities in Ethiopia. These reserves could therefore serve as a buffer for socio-economic inequities in mental health and wellbeing and can therefore assist in decreasing these inequities for women working in FDI sectors in Ethiopia.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Well-Being of Ghanaian Children in Transnational Families.

This study is the first to employ panel data to examine well-being outcomes-self-rated health, happiness, life satisfaction, and school enjoyment-of children in transnational families in an African context. It analyzes data collected in 2013, 2014, and 2015 from secondary schoolchildren and youth (ages 12-21) in Ghana (N = 741). Results indicate that children with fathers, mothers, or both parents away and those cared for by a parent, a family, or a nonfamily member are equally or more likely to have higher levels of well-being as children in nonmigrant families. Yet, there are certain risk factors-being a female, living in a family affected by divorce or by a change in caregiver while parents migrate-that may decrease child well-being.

Transnational youth mobility: new categories for migrant youth research.

Large-scale research on migrant youth categorises youth along two lines: ethnicity and generation. Yet insights from smaller-scale qualitative studies indicate that it is important to experiment with categories based on mobility. While these studies have shown that young people's mobility affects their identities, educational resilience, sense of belonging and sense of self, findings have not led to new thinking about categories used in large-scale migrant youth research. Given this lacuna, we investigate young people's mobility, understood here as long or short trips to countries other than where they reside, based on a large-scale survey in three European countries (N = 2019). We find that travels are common amongst secondary school pupils of both migrant and non-migrant background and that youth with a migration background primarily travel to their or their parents' 'home' country. While lower socio-economic status is associated with less frequent travel for the general population, it is not linked to the frequency of travel of youth with a migration background. In today's globalised world, where there are important distinctions between those who can travel and those who cannot, our findings call for putting the mobility of young people at the heart of analytical categories.

'Giving back' through mobility trajectories: motivations for engaging in development encounters in Ghana among transnational youth.

Literature on diaspora engagement in development activities has centred on the contributions of migrating adults to the 'homeland', which range from private transfers to single households, to community development projects. While such studies often focus on the impact of such activities on the country of origin, relatively few have focused on what transpires during development encounters and how this affects migrants', and especially young people's, motivation to engage transnationally over time. This paper combines migration and development, transnational migration studies and second generation 'returns' literature, to address these gaps. It studies the motivations of transnational youth to engage in development encounters, which they referred to as 'giving back', in the context of their mobility trajectories. Drawing on 17 months of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands and accompanying young people during trips to Ghana, we show that giving back contributes to a sense of purpose that connects them transnationally. Young people's expectations of giving back were embedded in community narratives, which framed this as a means to 'become successful' in culturally valued ways. While young people sometimes encountered unexpected surprises, emotions experienced during development encounters led to learning that ultimately resulted in enhanced intentions of transnational engagement.

Migration and child health in Moldova and Georgia.

There is scarce empirical evidence on the relation between migration and child health in Moldova and Georgia-two post-Soviet countries with large out-migration flows in the region. This study uses nationally representative data collected in 2011-2012 in Moldova (N = 1601) and Georgia (N = 1193) to investigate how children's health associates with five transnational characteristics: migrant and return-migrant household types, parental migration and parental divorce, maternal and/or paternal migration and caregiver's identity, the duration of migration, and remittances. Findings show that, regardless of the transnational family setting, children of migrants have overall positive or no differing health compared to children in non-migrant households. However, significant gender differences are found in both countries. More often than not, Moldovan and Georgian girls are more at risk of having poorer health when living transnationally. These results add nuance to a field of research that has mainly emphasized negative outcomes for children in transnational care.

Gendered Perceptions of Migration Among Ghanaian Children in Transnational Care.

This study empirically measures the perceptions towards maternal and paternal migration of male and female children who stay behind in Ghana. It analyses survey data collected in 2010 among secondary school children aged 11-18 in four urban areas with high out-migration rates: the greater Accra region, Kumasi, Sunyani and Cape Coast (N = 1965). The results show significant gendered differences in how children perceive parental migration. Specifically, female children have more positive views towards maternal and paternal migration when parents are abroad and in a stable marital relationship, when the assessed parent is abroad but the other parent is the caregiver in Ghana, when there is a frequent change in the care arrangement, and when female children receive remittances. These findings were not replicated for male children. The analysis highlights the sensitivity of the results to the gender of the child and to the characteristics of children's transnational lives that are being analysed.

'Left behind' but not left alone: parental migration & the psychosocial health of children in Moldova.

In Moldova, large-scale and rapidly feminised migration flows have inspired a wave of qualitative reports on children "left behind". Despite this recent interest, few studies have empirically evaluated the effects of parental migration on the psychosocial health of such children. Using data collected from a nationally-representative household survey conducted in Moldova between September 2011 and February 2012, this paper analyses the psychosocial health outcomes of children of migrant parents by comparing them with children without migrant parents (n = 1979). Child psychosocial health is measured through caregiver-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores. Multivariate regression analyses show that parental migration seldom corresponds to worse emotional symptoms outcomes but does correspond to increased conduct problems. Separate analyses for male and female children show significant gendered differences. The results partially contest the negative results that have been the subject of qualitative reports and, in particular, demonstrate that the migration of mothers infrequently results in worse psychosocial outcomes for children-contrary to what has been assumed in the discourse about parental migration in Moldova.

International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola.

When parents migrate, leaving their children in the origin country, transnational families are formed. Transnational family studies on children who are "left behind" indicate that children suffer psychologically from parental migration. Many of the factors identified as affecting children's responses to parental migration however are not considered in child psychology and family sociology studies. This study aims to bridge these areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010-11 (Ghana N = 2760; Angola N = 2243; Nigeria N = 2168) amongst pupils of secondary schools. The study compares children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin. Children's psychological well-being is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses reveal that children in transnational families fare worse than their counterparts living with both parents but not in Ghana where living conditions mediate this relationship. This paper also looks at four characteristics of transnational families and finds that specific characteristics of transnational families and country contexts matter: (1) changing caregivers is associated with poorer well-being in all countries; (2) which parent migrates does not make a difference in Ghana, when mothers migrate and fathers are caregivers results in poorer well-being in Nigeria, and both mother's and father's migration result in worse outcomes in Angola; (3) the kin relationship of the caregiver is not associated with poorer well-being in Ghana and Nigeria but is in Angola; (4) children with parents who migrate internationally do not show different results than children whose parents migrate nationally in Ghana and Nigeria but in Angola international parental migration is associated with poorer psychological well-being. The study shows that broader characteristics in the population rather than parental migration per se are associated with decreased levels of well-being.