Migration theory is adult-centric, failing to account for the experiences of children despite their increasingly important participation in migration flows. Using a life-course perspective and findings from research at the intersection of childhood studies and migration, this paper considers whether different migration theories apply to child migration as compared to adult migration. We examine this question using the Mexican Migration Project data to track the cross-border moves of 109,096 individuals relative to their family members. We find that theories from economics best explain migration among young adults, with some participation from older adolescents, while children of all ages are sensitive to educational opportunities and the behavior of their peers and role models. Insights from the cultural turn and feminist theorizing in migration studies explain migration for both groups. We find that adult and child migration is strongly conditioned on migrant networks and family dynamics, including ties to family members in destination and family structure and caretaking arrangements in origin. We argue that child-centered analyses advance migration theory by highlighting the role of age, the life-course, and intergenerational family dynamics as determinants of international migration.

中文翻译：

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将儿童带到移民理论的中心


移民理论以成人为中心，未能考虑儿童的经历，尽管儿童在移民流动中的参与日益重要。本文利用生命历程的视角以及童年研究和移民交叉点的研究结果，考虑与成人移民相比，不同的移民理论是否适用于儿童移民。我们使用墨西哥移民项目数据来研究这个问题，追踪 109,096 名个人与其家庭成员的跨境流动。我们发现，经济学理论最好地解释了年轻人的迁移，其中一些年龄较大的青少年也参与其中，而所有年龄段的儿童对教育机会以及同龄人和榜样的行为都很敏感。移民研究中文化转向和女权主义理论的见解解释了这两个群体的移民。我们发现，成人和儿童移民很大程度上取决于移民网络和家庭动态，包括与目的地家庭成员的联系以及原籍国的家庭结构和照顾安排。我们认为，以儿童为中心的分析通过强调年龄、生命历程和代际家庭动态作为国际移民决定因素的作用，推进了移民理论。