Strangers in the Homeland? The Academic Performance of Children of Return Migrants in Mexico

The number of return migrants from the U.S. to Mexico has swelled in recent years, and yet we know little about the academic performance of the over 500,000 U.S.-born children who have accompanied them. This paper harnesses PISA test score data to compare U.S.-born children of return migrants in Mexico to two groups: Mexican-born students in Mexico, and students in the U.S. born to Spanish-speaking immigrant parents. Contrary to previous work highlighting the academic struggles faced by children of return migrants, these adolescents attain higher PISA scores than their Mexican-born counterparts. This advantage persists in models that control for both pre- and post-migration family characteristics. However, these adolescents' scores are much lower than similar youths in the U.S. Controlling for variables related to immigrant selection does little to change estimates of disparities.

The Weight of Migration: Reconsidering Health Selection and Return Migration among Mexicans

While migration plays a key role in shaping the health of Mexican migrants in the US and those in Mexico, contemporary Mexican migration trends may challenge the health selection and return migration hypotheses, two prevailing assumptions of how migration shapes health. Using data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (2002; 2005), we tested these two hypotheses by comparing the cardiometabolic health profiles of (1) Mexico–US future migrants and nonmigrants and (2) Mexico–US return migrants and nonmigrants. First, we found limited evidence for health selection: the cardiometabolic health of Mexico–US future migrants was not measurably better than the health of their compatriots who did not migrate, although migrants differed demographically from nonmigrants. However, return migrants had higher levels of adiposity compared to those who stayed in Mexico throughout their lives; time spent in the US was also associated with obesity and elevated waist circumference. Differences in physical activity and smoking behavior did not mediate these associations. Our findings suggest positive health selection might not drive the favorable health profiles among recent cohorts of Mexican immigrants in the US. However, the adverse health of return migrants with respect to that of nonmigrants underscores the importance of considering the lived experience of Mexican migrants in the US as an important determinant of their health.

We're No' Awa' Tae Bide Awa': Scotland's Returning Diaspora

At a time when the world is becoming more mobile, and migration levels are high, relatively limited attention has been paid to return migrants. Yet returners can play an important role in their homeland. In Scotland, with a sluggish population growth fuelled entirely by immigration, return movement is an important way of growing the population and the economy. This paper reports on a study of return migrants to Scotland in 2019/20 and discusses their reasons for return, their experiences and their long-term commitment to the country. Respondents generally felt positively about their return and there was considerable support for Scottish independence, particularly if that led to rejoining the European Union. Brexit was an important factor in making Scots feel unwelcome in England and helping to encourage return to Scotland.

A social pedagogy lens for social work practice with return migrants

The number of asylum rejections has increased in recent years, yet successful claims differ dependent on the originating county of the asylum seekers. In 2018, the European Union rejected 25 per cent of the 519,000 asylum requests which it received (Eurostat, 2019). Kosovars were the fourth-largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in 2015 and 96 per cent of them were rejected and returned to Kosova. Rejected asylum seekers and those who lose their temporary status are returned to their countries of origin partly because the EU endorses repatriation, or the return of forced migrants to their country of origin, as a preferred solution to the migration crisis. This, despite a significant body of research which substantiates that repatriation is not sustainable and current repatriation policies have seldom considered the experiences of rejected asylum seekers. Considering that social workers are the first point of contact for many rejected asylum seekers, models of practice which inform social work with this population are needed. This article uses the case of Kosovar returnees to examine the utility of a social pedagogy lens to better prepare social workers to work with returnees. Social pedagogy, with its dedication to social justice, the importance it places on local and regional contexts, as well as its attention to praxis, is well placed to guide social workers in partnering with return migrants as they navigate the complex realities of reintegration. While grounded in Kosova’s context, the social pedagogy framework has global implications considering the increasing number of return migrants worldwide.

Unintended repercussions of Brexit? The departure of skilled Germans from Britain after the referendum

Although the referendum on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union—better known by its portmanteau Brexit—had no immediate legal consequences for migrants, the changed public atmosphere and looming consequences for their status are creating uncertainty among migrants in the UK. This article analyses the impact of Brexit on Germans who lived in the UK and returned to Germany in 2017/18. Our analysis relies on the first wave of the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS), a novel probability-based sample of German return migrants from the EU member countries. The results show that more than half of German return migrants from the UK are strongly affected by Brexit. Furthermore, those who returned on account of Brexit are more likely to blame the political situation, the lack of social security, and their dissatisfaction with life in their host country than those who did not return on account of Brexit – or than those returning from other EU15 member countries. In sum, our results indicate that Brexit may have the unintended consequence of driving out skilled and socio-culturally more integrated migrants who had been living in the UK for several years.

Return migrants and the wage premium: does the legal status of migrants matter?

This paper examines the impact of the legal status of overseas migrants on their wages upon return to the home country. Using unique data from Egypt, which allows us to distinguish between return migrants according to whether their international migration was documented or undocumented, we examine the impact of illegal status on wages upon return. Relying on a Conditional Mixed Process model, which takes into account the selection into emigration, into return, and into the legal status of temporary migration, we find that, upon return, undocumented migrants experience a wage penalty compared with documented migrants, as well as relative to non-migrants. Our results are the first to show the impact of undocumented migration on the migrant upon return to the country of origin.

Impact of Rural-Urban Migration Experience on Rice Farmers’ Agricultural Machinery Expenditure: Evidence from China

In China, return migrants’ rural–urban migration experience and its impact on agricultural production have attracted increasing attention. Using the random survey data of 1122 rice farmers from the Yangtze River Basin in 2016, this study utilizes the endogenous treatment–effect model to investigate the impact of rural–urban migration experience on farmers’ agricultural machinery expenditure. The results demonstrate that return migrants with rural–urban migration experience account for 23.3% of the total sampled farmers. After addressing the endogeneity issue, rural–urban migration experience can increase rice farmers’ agricultural machinery expenditure by 500–600 yuan/ha. Meanwhile, the positive impact of rural–urban migration experience on agricultural machinery expenditure is also heterogeneous in terms of farmers’ age and rice farm size. Based on the results, this study proposes assisting return migrants’ engagement in agriculture, supporting agricultural mechanization for the aged farmers, and enhancing the coordination between agricultural mechanization and appropriately scaled agricultural operations.