“To Become Successful”: Impacts of Parent Migration on Youth’s Educational Opportunities and Aspirations in Ponorogo, Indonesia

Abstract

Migration happens on a large scale in Indonesia. While migrants often say supporting their children’s education is a key motivation for migration, they face tremendous difficulties in saving up for the long-term due to debt, unforeseen financial difficulties, and the lack of investment opportunities in Ponorogo. Consequently, the use of remittances for education is of an ad-hoc nature, and it does not take much to shock the household budget leading to the disruption of educational aspirations. To address these challenges, this policy brief recommends that the state provides favourable structural conditions to support young people’ access to education and occupational opportunities.