What Central American Youth’s Future Ideation Tells Us about Their Migration Intentions

Estela Rivero, University of Notre Dame
Tom Hare, University of Notre Dame

A positive outlook for the future directly impacts how we feel, behave, and the economic opportunities we pursue. In this paper, we use a survey of 10,000 middle school students in El Salvador and Honduras, where we asked respondents to draw and explain in words how they see their lives in ten years to understand their future ideations and their link to migration. The study has five results with significant implications for policy making: 1) despite this youth’s high migration intentions (67%), only a minority of survey respondents drew themselves as migrants; 2) youth foresee a future where their economic needs are fulfilled, they are able to support their families, and work to make this happen; 3) these youth’s drawings offer a view of what they see as necessary: respondents expect to have their and their familie’s basic economic needs solved, having a stable job, and a calm life; 4) drawings also show what Central American youth perceives as desirable riches: having a two-floored house, cars, motorcycles, and being able to travel; 5) a small portion of the youth are so pessimistic about their future, that they picture themselves dead or are unable to imagine a future for themselves.

Keywords: Children, Adolescents, and Youth, International Migration

See extended abstract.