Child Development and Migration in the Northern Triangle of Central America

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, collectively referred to as the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), have shared challenges of corruption, violence, widespread poverty, and economic instability. This is the impetus of the ongoing growth of outward migration by families that often seek refuge in the United States. The United States continues to seek strategies for responding to the growing number of migrants fleeing the challenges in the NTCA. A four billion USD proposal has been proposed by the current administration to address the root causes of migration, stimulate private sector investment in the region, and extend temporary legal protections for migrant groups.

This project studies the short-run and long-run consequences of parental migration on children’s development in the Northern Triangle of Central America. In collaboration with the government of El Salvador, the Inter-American Development Bank, and Innovations for Poverty Action, we are conducting a nationwide census of children with migrant parents in El Salvador. In the following months, we will conduct similar censuses in Guatemala and Honduras. These data collection efforts will serve as the baseline for a longitudinal cross-country study.

The primary data we are collecting will be matched to administrative records of children’s academic performance in school and in national standardized tests. We currently have access to digitized academic records of 1,077,646 students in El Salvador, from pre-school to 9th grade.

Location: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador

Partners/Stakeholders:

  • Inter-American Development Bank

  • Innovations for Poverty Action

  • Ministry of Education of El Salvador

Funding:

  • Inter-American Development Bank

Principal Investigators:

  • Rodrigo Guerrero (Yale)

  • Juan Hernández-Agramonte (IPA)

  • Emma Näslund-Hadley (IDB)

  • Siu Yuat Wong (Yale)

Research:

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