The effect of father's overseas employment on alcohol and tobacco consumption among left-behind children in Metro Cebu: a panel data analysis
Date
2017-05
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Abstract
The implications of labor migration and the growing number of transnational families on Filipino households, especially on left-behind children are becoming a growing concern. This paper primarily examines the relationship between having an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) father and the engagement of left-behind children in the “risky habits” of smoking and drinking alcohol. The study analyzes this relationship using a panel of over 1700 households from 2002 to 2005 in Metro Cebu from the Cebu Longitudinal Nutrition and Health Survey (CLNHS), employing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Fixed Effects (FE) models. The results show that it is not having an OFW father per se that significantly affects the smoking behavior of left-behind children. Rather, it is having an OFW father, who is solely responsible for the upbringing of the child that results in higher smoking frequency of the left-behind child, indicating the importance of parental physical presence in deterring this “risky behavior” of the child. In terms of drinking behavior, the analysis suggests a similar relationship as smoking frequency with having an OFW father – at least in the OLS model. The analysis also shows that other variables, such as parental and peer influences, stress, educational attainment, and household and environmental characteristics, may also affect both the smoking and drinking habits among left-behind children.