Mexican Adolescent Migration to the United States and Transitions to Adulthood

• Published in: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2013-07, Vol.648 (1), p.18-37
• Main Authors: ZENTENO, RENÉ, GIORGULI, SILVIA E., GUTIÉRREZ, EDITH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescence; Adolescents; Adulthood; Adults; Age; Age Groups; Communities; Cultural Capital; Determinants; Education; Family; Females; Households; Human migration; Labor force; Labor Migration; Life Stage Transitions; Marriage and Family Education; Men; Mexican Americans; Mexico; Migration; Migration in the Context of Transitions to Adulthood: Schooling, Employment and Family Formation; Motivation; Social Capital; Spouses; Teenagers; U.S.A; Youth
• ISSN: 0002-7162; 1552-3349
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716213481189

This article contributes to our understanding of how the motivation to migrate varies depending on the stage in the life course, particularly during the youth-to-adult transition. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project, we estimate discrete-time-hazard models of the probabilities of a first migration, using individual, household, community, and macroeconomic variables during and after adolescence for both men and women. We show that the determinants of migration are different for adolescents than they are for adults. While migration-related social capital has proved to be an important factor in increasing and perpetuating migration, we find that its effect is even stronger for teenagers than for other age groups. We also shed light on how adolescent migration is influenced by other major markers of the transition to adulthood, such as education, labor force experience, and family formation.