Remittances and Household Composition: New Evidence on Mexican Transnational Fathers

Margherita Odasso , Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED)
Diederik Boertien, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED)

Transnational fathers have been largely neglected in the study of transnational families. However, recent research is reconsidering the complexity of the phenomenon, highlighting the attempts of migrant fathers to be present parents and care for their children in their country of origin. Empirical evidence on distant fathering is scarce. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project (1982-2019) and a sample of 951 Mexican transnational fathers living in the United States, this article addresses two research questions. First, it seeks to explore the family configuration on both sides of the border when the father is absent due to international migration, an issue that has not yet been documented. Second, our study examines the behaviour of fathers' remittances according to the transnational family structure. While remittances have been addressed in previous research, transnational fathers have not been the focus of these studies and it is unclear what conditions enable transnational fathers to better support their children economically in their home country. Preliminary findings suggest that the location of the migrant's spouse plays an important role in determining the amount of remittances. If the wife lives with the children in Mexico, they are more likely to receive money from their fathers. In addition, migrants send less to their families back home as they become more integrated in the US.

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 Presented in Session P3. Migration, Economics, Policies, History