Remittances and Children’s Schooling: New Evidence from Kyrgyzstan, 2005-2008

Migration and remittances receipt play an important role in the Central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan with presumably substantial influence on the everyday social and economic life of many Kyrgyz people. Yet, the evidence on the impact of remittances on remaining household members is still thin. The focus of this study is on the impact of labor migration and remittances on measures of human capital investment. A unique dataset from Kyrgyzstan thereby allows us to investigate the impact of labor migration and remittances receipt on children’s educational outcomes in Kyrgyzstan. Along with the usual socio-economic controls, the Kyrgyzstan Integrated Household Survey delivers detailed information on remittances flows from 2005-2008. Our results show that remittances receipt has a negative impact on margin groups such as secondary or preschool-age children, particularly girls. Further we find that families with a high remittancesincome ratio spend more on their children’s education than non-receiving households. However, families with a low remittances-income ratio spend even less than their non-receiving counterparts. Our results can be explained by the fact that the absence of a migrant household member can exert pressure on remaining members, mostly children and women, to contribute to the household’s workforce. Further, as migration in Kyrgyzstan is mostly male-dominated, girls are not expected to be the future bread-winner of the family and hence, their educational achievements are regarded as secondary.