The downsides of Latin American emigration

An article in the Washington Post highlights an issue that is receiving increased attention, including an NPR story I heard on the way to campus this morning. It is the emptying out of Latin American towns, as the working age population emigrates to the United States. Children live with their grandparents, not knowing when they will see their parents again, who for the most part have entered the U.S. illegally.

This is an issue that should be analyzed in tandem with remittance studies, which focus on the economic benefits for Latin America. Remittances can be life savers, but massive emigration may simply mean economic stagnation, with towns full mostly of the old and the very young, with people leaving when they’re teenagers.

Meanwhile, the NPR story talks about how some of those children are having behavioral problems due to lack of parental involvement.