EFFECTS OF LABOR MIGRATION PROCESS TO THE CHANGE OF FAMILY STRUCTURE IN RURAL AREA OF THANH HOA PROVINCE, VIETNAM

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26758/15.1.4

(1) Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam

Address correspondence to: Doan Van TRUONG, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam, Ph.: +84-979-283-406; E-mail: dvtruongxhh@gmail.com

Abstract

Objectives. This study aims to examine the influence of labor migration on family structure changes in rural areas of Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. The three factors selected are the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between parents and children, the relationship between the elderly, and the way generations bond in the family.

Material and methods. Researchers approached migrant households living in rural areas in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam, to conduct a questionnaire survey. Researchers went to each commune and village and distributed questionnaires to 300 people representing households with labor migrants.

Results. According to the results of this study, all the three factors are the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between parents and children, the relationship between the elderly, and the way of connecting the generations in the family affected by labor migration. The relationship between parents and children is the most affected, so it is necessary to soon come up with solutions to help localities solve sustainable labor migration issues while simultaneously fostering cultural development and healthy, happy family. The findings of this study provide insights and suggestions to contribute to orienting the development of family culture in relation to the labor migration process in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam in the coming time.

Conclusions. The findings of this study contribute to the existing theoretical basis on the influence of the labor migration process on the change in the family structure of migrants in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam.

Keywords: change, family structure, affect, labor migration, countryside.

Suggested citation (APA)

Truong, D. V. (2025). Effects of labor migration process to the change of family structure in rural area of Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Anthropological Researches and Studies, 15, 64-77. https://doi.org/10.26758/15.1.4

Introduction

In today’s modern social context, labor migration is a major and common problem in many countries. The process of industrialization, modernization, international integration, and globalization are important premises that promote the labor migration as an objective necessity to meet the law of supply and demand for labor. Currently, the labor migration takes place strongly in developing countries, including both international migration and domestic migration. Among them, the domestic migration trend, mainly the migration trend from rural to urban areas, is widespread and dominant. Like other countries, labor migration in Vietnam is a regular socio-economic phenomenon, an inevitable component of development (Dang Nguyen Anh, 1997; UNDP Vietnam, 2010). The trend of shifting labor from rural to urban areas is increasingly common on a large scale and with high intensity. The rapid development of industry and services, as well as the significant differences in income and living standards in urban areas, have opened up employment opportunities, attracting a large number of workers from rural to urban areas (General Statistics Office, 2019).

Rural-urban labor migration in Vietnam has been affecting all the aspects of the social life, greatly influencing the socio-economic development and the national security in the context of the economic and social development globalization events (Urda & Shevelyova, 2016). On the one hand, the rural-urban migrant workers actively contribute to the process of promoting economic development, population redistribution, and economic labor restructuring in urban areas. Therefore, labor migration is considered a factor that significantly contributes to the economic growth and sustainable development strategies in urban areas. On the other hand, labor migration also brings positive improvements to the place of origin because of its contributions to creating jobs for the local labor force and increasing income for the families of migrant workers. Since then, the economic appearance of the emigration area has also had many positive changes. Besides these positive effects, labor migration also poses many problems for both immigration and emigration destinations. Especially in their place of origin, families of the migrant workers are receiving multi-dimensional influences from the issue of the labor migration itself. Some aspects, such as structure, function, and family relationships, all of them have certain changes due to the impact of the labor migration. In particular, family relationships such as the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, and grandparents and grandchildren are strongly affected by the influence of labor migration, which has a significant impact on both migrant workers as well as other family members. The absence of their family members, permanent or temporary, will affect family relationships, both in the place of origin and destination (Ekawati, 2005).

In a husband-wife relationship, women have a greater role in managing and making important family decisions when the husband is away. This shift can create disadvantages for women as they are required to handle additional tasks that were previously done by the husband (Madhu, 2008). Women may feel pressured and frustrated by the increased workload they have to complete in a short period, longer working hours, and lack of time to rest and take care of their own health (Caarls & Mazzucato, 2015). In the relationship between parents and children, many research studies that the absence of family members who migrate to work negatively affects children. Children’s academic performance has decreased, particularly among girls (Feng Hu, 2013). Moreover, children can be easily influenced by friends and fall into negative behaviors, especially male children. Furthermore, these children are at greater risk of depression and low self-esteem compared to children whose parents do not migrate for work (Lu, 2014; Guo, Ren, Wang, Qu, Zhou, & Ran, 2015). The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren in families affected by labor migration shows that this phenomenon has created a psychological and emotional gap for many elderly people. They feel lonely, have no one to talk to, experience depression, and the level of life satisfaction is lower than that of families without children who migrate (King &Vullnetari, 2006; Man, Aranda, & Silverstein, 2009).

Vietnam is a developing country with a high rate of labor migration, of which Thanh Hoa is the place where domestic and international migration has taken place very early and continues strongly till this day. Even if the rapid increase in the labor migration wave has solved employment and income problems for workers and their families, it has also created many social problems that need attention. Over a long period, large numbers of migrants will pose a threat to the country’s labor market (Syzdykbekov, Jazykbayeva, Matayeva, & Rakhimova, 2021). Therefore, labor migration has become a concern of local governments at all levels as well as for families of labor migrants. The increasing waves of workers leaving their homeland in search of better jobs and economic opportunities leads to many important issues related to policy and the development of sustainable and happy families today. The impacts of labor migration on families show that there is a need for an objective and scientific assessment, from which there is a system of appropriate policies and solutions to promote positive values and limit the negative effects of labor migration on families and society. The obvious changes in structure, function, and especially family relationships cause difficulties for the organization, management, and stable and sustainable development of the family today. Therefore, research on family relations and changes in family relationships under the impact of labor migration to build a scientific basis for strengthening and developing the family is one of the important issues for the purpose of building and developing the country in the period of industrialization and modernization. That reality requires systematic research on both theoretical and practical aspects of the current transformation of rural family relationships due to the impact of labor migration. Previous studies on labor migration and the effects of labor migration have partially reflected the changing aspects of the family in terms of structure, function, and relationships within the family. The effects of labor migration on family relationships and the changing roles of family members are clearly shown in the reports of the UNFPA (2011) and the World Organization for Migration (2020) and research by Australian Aid (2021). Children and the elderly are vulnerable groups in families that are most affected by labor migration, as shown in many research works and statistical reports (General Statistics Office, 2019; Institute of Labor Sciences and Social Affairs, 2022).

However, there is still no research that deeply evaluates the change in family relationships under the impact of labor migration in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. This has created a gap in the overall picture of the impact of labor migration on changing family relationships. The article is an important basis for finding appropriate adaptation strategies as well as orienting rural-to-urban labor migration policies appropriately in the development process in Vietnam today. This not only contributes to solving the problem of employment and income for each family but is also the basic foundation for positively preserving and developing family relationships while preserving and developing family relationships and promoting family values in a stable and sustainable direction along with Vietnam’s socio-economic development process.

Material and methods

Labor migration is considered one of the common social problems in many countries around the world. The role of labor migration in household economic development has been confirmed in practice. Therefore, labor migration and its impact on changing family structure are an issue that attract the attention of many researchers with research projects conducted at different scopes and scales. In this study, we put forward several hypotheses about the impact of the labor migration process on changes in migrant family structure as follows:

H1: There is a connection between labor migration and changes in the relationship between husbands and wives in migrant families.

Ekawati S. Wahyuni’s (2005) research in Java has clarified the nature and strength of the relationship between migration and changes in family relationships and functions as well as family welfare among Javanese in Indonesia. Migration is seen by families as a life strategy to solve economic problems or improve economic life conditions. The rate of migration of one or more family members will influence how the family functions and how its roles are distributed within families. As the relationship changes, family members must make adjustments, such as during the husband’s absence, the wife may take on some alternative roles to maintain her position household functions, such as handling more agricultural work or acting as head of household.

In Madhu Nagla’s (2008) study, rapid changes in the family systems of migrants were pointed out due to the rapid economic and social development that has taken place over the past few decades. The migration rate has increased many times compared to before. What is concerning is that in migration situation, long-standing patriarchal families can become matriarchal families after a short period. The head of the family is the woman who decides on daily and sometimes important issues. The main purpose of this study is to examine how women assume this new responsibility. Family research will analyze the nature and extent of variation among female-headed households. The overall results show that women have a greater role in managing and making important family decisions when their husbands are away. This also creates disadvantages for women who have to take on more work, which was previously done by the husband in the family.

Caarls & Mazzucato (2015) found that international migration leads to an increase in divorce and that there are gender differences in the impact of migration on divorce. Migration increases the risk of divorce in families where the husband migrates abroad to find work; families where only the female are migrants have a lower divorce rate. Based on these findings, some hypotheses may be put forward, such as the probability of a higher rate of divorced women among the women migrating to European countries and the rate could be higher than of those women migrating to African countries. So, we may notice that the divorce rate among migrating couples towards Europe is higher than that of those migrating in Africa. Migration to European countries can also create tension in the relationship between husband and wife due to changes in gender roles, for example, when the wife becomes the main breadwinner in the family, work pressure within the family may cause women to become depressed and want to find a more comfortable life. Additionally, these findings may be explained by other differences that exist in the geographical distance between Africa, Europe, or North America. For example, the process of moving to Africa is easier because of immigration management policies, which in turn can increase opportunities for direct contact and reduce marital tension between spouses separated by  geographical distances.

Atinder Pal Kaur (2020) points out that international migration is an important aspect of studying the integration of countries globally. Data was collected through interviews, evaluative survey, and non-participant observation from the Doaba region of Punjab. Interviews were conducted with women whose husbands were labor migrants and male family members. Research results have shown that there has been a positive change in recognizing the role of women in household economic development activities. Women feel autonomous and decide on important family decisions. The woman plays the role of head of the household and holds all decisions in the family. But patriarchy and male domination still exist in society, the husband’s labor migration process leads to a temporary increase in women’s duties and responsibilities within the family back the hometown. The change in roles also creates a “dilemma” among women left behind about their position. Women often perceive these new roles as a burden and therefore believe it should not be seen with changing gender roles.

Lei Lei and colleagues (2021) showed that in developing countries, labor migration has led to millions of couples living apart. Men’s emigration brings economic benefits to families in their place of origin but also leads to profound consequences and changes in the lives of the wives left behind . The structure of the household has major changes between the two groups of women living in extended families and nuclear families. Accordingly, women living in nuclear families face both the challenges of responsibility and autonomy, while women living in extended households are not affected by these issues when their husband is absent. For women in nuclear families, the wife’s health is adversely affected due to having to perform more housework than before when the husband was present, leading to further deterioration of health.

H2: There is a connection between labor migration and changes in the relationship between parents and children in migrant families.

Research by Feng Hu (2013) identified that, since the implementation of China’s reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, the trend of migration from rural to urban areas has continued increase. However, due to existing institutional barriers, most children in migrant households do not have access to high-quality educational opportunities in cities and must remain in rural areas (Feng Hu, 2013). In his study, Feng Hu examined the impact of internal migration flows on the educational outcomes of children left behind in rural areas, using survey data from Gansu, a western province of China, in an effort to better understand mechanisms impacting migration on children’s education. After accounting for migration variables, Feng Hu found that family member migration negatively affected educational outcomes of children who remained in rural China. Boys’ educational performance was not found to be greatly affected by the migration of family members. In contrast, the absence of labor-migrant members of the family was found to have a significantly negative impact on girls in their educational outcomes.

Research by Botezat & Pfeiffer (2014) shows that many children grow up with absent parents due to working abroad. Economists are interested in the achievement and well-being of these “home alone” children to better understand the positives and negatives of parental labor migration. The study examines the causal impact of parental migration on their children left behind in Romania, a country where an increasing number of children have been left behind in recent years. The study used a sample from a single representative survey conducted in 2007, and instrumental variable and bivariate probit estimates were performed. Preliminary evidence demonstrates that, in Romania, children left home alone achieve better grades in school, partly because they spend more time to studying. However, they are more likely to be depressed and have frequent health problems, especially in rural areas.

Author Yao Lu (2014) points out that parents migrating abroad to find jobs has a significant impact on children in families, and has become a popular trend worldwide. Migration can bring economic and social benefits to children in migrant families. Although today with the development of science and technology, the assessment and recognition of the positive and negative impacts of migration on those who stay behind are still not deeply understood.

The results show that children in families where parents have migrated, perform worse academically compared to children in families whose parents have not migrated. On the other hand, children whose parents migrate domestically have better academic outcomes than children whose parents migrate internationally in the same migration context.

Guo J et al.’s (2015) study compared depression in migrant children and left-behind non-migrant children in China to evaluate the relationship between parents and children and teachers and children. The study compared 2 levels in migrant children (MC) and left-behind children (LBC) versus non-left-behind children (NLBC) and also examined the relationship between depression in these children and the quality of their parent-child and teacher-child relationships. The results showed that the prevalence of depression in children who were not left behind was 10.5% among NLBC, 13.1% left behind by one parent among LBCO, 16.1% by both parents among LBCB, and 20.1% of migrant children among MC. The study also found that negative relationships with both parents and teachers were the greatest risk factors for depression regardless of the child’s group. These results support the need for further research on negative interpersonal relationships as a risk factor for depression and the need for nationally targeted programs on improving relationships between parents and teachers of vulnerable children. Furthermore, the mental health needs of LBCB may differ from those of MC.

Mahmudul Hassan and colleagues (2020) conducted a study on the relationship between immigrant parents from Bangladesh and their children are in Portugal: focusing on educational aspects and social aspects. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between Bangladeshi immigrant parents and their children living in Portugal regarding children’s education and social aspects. The results of the study showed that Bangladeshi immigrant parents and children have a positive relationship but with differences. Although parents cannot directly support their children’s studies due to language barriers, busy work schedules, and lack of understanding of the Portuguese education system, they do send their children to private schools, hire private teachers and monitor children’s academic progress, etc. On the social aspect, most children have a positive attitude towards life when their parents are away and align with their parents’ expectations. However, there are also some cases where children become lazy, tend to drop out of school, and their academic results decline due to lack of attention and geographical distance between parents and children. Consequently, research has recommended that both parents and children should develop friendly relationships and share more often so that children are active in learning and social behavior.

H3: There is a connection between labor migration and changes in the relationship between the elderly in the family and the way generations in the family are connected.

The results of the study by King & Vullnetari (2006) were conducted based on fieldwork and in-depth interviews in areas with many migrants in northern and southern Albania. The study examines the impact of labor migration on older people left behind and their coping mechanisms. Since 1990, Albania has seen large-scale rural migration, even abroad, mainly to Italy Greece, and several other developed countries. The scale of this migration disrupted multigenerational rural kinship and social systems that, before 1990, had been strongly focused on family ties within the community. In particular, the elderly are vulnerable in the context of the migration of their children in large numbers, which creates the phenomenon of “lonely elderly”. Remittances can help families partly cover living expenses, especially in supporting the elderly to stay in their homeland, but the migration of children for work has created a gap. Regarding the psychology and emotions of the elderly, they feel lonely, have no one to talk to, and are disappointed in life.

Man Guo (2009) researched the impact of out-migration on intergenerational support and psychological health of older adults in rural China, highlighting the impact of children migrating abroad on parental support for mental health in rural China. The survey sample included 1,237 Chinese people aged 60 years or older in Anhui province, China. The questionnaire was designed to compare two points in time: 2001 and 2003. The results showed compared with childless parents who migrated in 2001, parents of migrants had more financial support and lower levels of depression in 2003. Such differences may be due to different sources of financial support and health status, but regression models suggest that when taking into account the positive effects of intergenerational support, older parents with more migrant children tend to have higher levels of lower life satisfaction than families without migrant children.

Am Econ Rev (2014) found that studies of international migration often focus on the outcomes of migrants at their destinations, thereby examining the consequences for their members. Families of migrants stay in their homeland. In countries with rapidly aging populations like Mexico, how will dependent elderly people fare when their children are away from home? The results suggest that family members of migrants may benefit from international migration due to the large flow of remittances from the United States to Mexico. However, the proportion of remittances sent back to elderly parents staying in the homeland is very small, especially when migrants are old enough to establish their own families. In addition, aging parents may need physical support from their children, which may be interrupted when children migrate for work and there is a replacement around every day to care for them. Finally, aging parents can become emotionally distressed when their children are absent and do not have someone to care for and nurture them.

Similarly, Sekhon & Minhas (2014) found that although Punjab, India, is a prosperous state, there is still a large number of young people migrating abroad. With more and more young people migrating abroad, leaving the elderly behind, the present study was conducted in a rural area of Punjab, India, to better understand the mental health of the elders affected by this migration. The largest number of research subjects is the age group ≥60 to <70, totalling 329 people, while men make up the majority of the study sample (54.84%). Research has shown that there are many reasons leading to the migration process such as unemployment, lack of jobs, and the economic potential at the destination migrants have left behind elderly relatives in their homeland, which takes a toll not only on the physical health of the elderly but also on their mental health. Loneliness, memory loss and depression are a fairly common reality in the families surveyed. Through the results of this analysis, the authors have proposed positive solutions to minimize risks for the elderly staying in their homeland.

Tu Mengwei (2016) points out that international migration and increased family affluence do not lead to the erosion of filial piety. However, these families’ practices and perceptions of filial piety undergo to a complex transition. Distance and borders pose some significant future barriers to long-term care for parents. Single-child migrants tend to compensate for the lack of their material care by providing remote emotional care to their parents. Both generations expressed ambivalence toward this new transnational family contract. Rather than focusing on actual outcomes, this article argues for the importance of considering how members of transnational families perceive their filial behavior. This focus brings out the less visible changing dynamics of intergenerational care in the context of modernization and globalization.

Some other studies also show that when family members go to work far away, all problems that arise at home are placed on the shoulders of the person/persons who remains/remain at home, the elderly person who stays behind being not not the problem. At this time, in addition to their’s economic activities, they also participate in caring for and educating children who are children of migrant workers. This participation has, – invisibly, – changed the role of the elderly in the family. Some argue that the elderly who stay behind will play an active role in replacing the migrants while they care of the children when they are left behind in their home country. Most children living in households with migrants feel “sad/worried because they miss their parents”. During the respective period of time, many children often try to call their parents in order to ease their nostalgia. However, very few children can go to their parents’ workplace to visit them and ask questions. Because they live far away from their parents, for these children is less likely to be spanked than children living in households without migrants and also have a lower rate of repeat mistakes (Tran Thi Thanh Phuong, 2018).

This study developed the study framework shown in Figure 1 based on reviewing the literature:

Figure 1

Study framework (to see Figure 1, please click here)

Research design

Sampling method

The study chose a stratified random sampling method by geographical region (communes and villages in Thanh Hoa province). Primary data was collected through a direct survey of 300 migrant households living in rural areas in Thanh Hoa province. The survey focused on clarifying the impact of labor migration on family structure in Thanh Hoa, a province in Central Vietnam, where there is a large migrant labor force. The survey samples were selected purposively based on the list of households with migrants; the sample structure was chosen to ensure the following conditions: poor-income households, middle-income households, and well-off households or higher.

Data collection methods

For qualitative information, in-depth interviews were used with 10 cases of labor migrants, relatives staying in their hometown, and representatives of local authorities where migrant worker families live. Specifically, 4 cases for migrant workers, 4 cases for non-migrant workers, and 2 local government representatives in order to collect their opinions and assessments on the impact of labor migration on the transformation of family relationships in rural areas today in Thanh Hoa province. The qualitative research results identified 20 observed variables. All the observed variables are measured using a 5-level Likert scale, from “Strongly Disagree” (1) to “Strongly Agree” (5).

The linear structural model analysis (PLS-SEM) method is used in order to evaluate the model and clarify research hypotheses from survey data sources. According to Henseler & Chin (2010) when applying PLS-SEM, the research model is evaluated through two steps: evaluating the measurement model and the structural model. First, the measurement model is evaluated by assessing the reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the measurement concepts/constructs in the model. Next, as suggested by Hair, Hult, Ringle & Sarstedt (2016), the structural model is evaluated through the following steps: (1) Testing multicollinearity, (2) Testing of the path coefficients, (3) Coefficient of determination R2, (4) Evaluate the impact factor (value f2) và (5) Evaluate predictive relevance (coefficient Q2).

In the PLS-SEM model, the analyst cannot perform a statistical significance test of the model’s characteristic parameters if only based on a single data sample. To overcome this drawback, the PLS-SEM model applies the Bootstrap method introduced by researchers Tibshirani, Davison, and Hinkley (Nguyen and Vu, 2020).

Results and Discussions

Research sample

Regarding gender, in the 300 migrant households there are 121 men, accounting for 40.3%, and 179 women, accounting for 59.7%.

Regarding age, among the 300 migrant households surveyed, the ages 26 – 35 years old and 36 – 45 years old account for the largest proportion, that means 79.3%. The remaining 20.7% of the sample are aged 18 – 25 years and 46 – 60 years old.

Regarding household living standards, among the 300 migrant households, the number of middle-income households accounts for the highest proportion, meaning 46.3%. Households with a well-off income account for 34.0%, the lowest proportion in the research sample is poor households at 19.7%.

The migrant workers have a relatively low educational level; most of them have primary, secondary, and high school education (accounting for 79.7%), while only 20.3% have university and postgraduate education.

Concerning the marital status, among the 300 migrant households, the married rate is the highest at 83.7%, and the remaining unmarried, widowed, divorced/separated is 16.3%.

Evaluate the reliability, validity, and discriminant validity of the constructs in the model

According to Hair et al (2016), the steps to test the reliability and validity of the construct include testing internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.

The reability was assessed by the outer loading factor for the indicators, Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, and composite reliability. The outer loading factor must be greater than or equal to 0.7 (Nguyen & Vu, 2020), and Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient and composite reliability (CR) must be greater than or equal to 0.7 (Hulland & Bentler, 1999). Convergent validity was assessed using the average variance extracted (AVE). The AVE coefficient must be greater than or equal to 0.5 to confirm convergent validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The test results show that variables ER1,2,3 of the elderly scale and the way of connecting generations in the family; variable HWR4 of the scale measuring the relationship between husband and wife and variable LM4.5 of the labor migration scale have an outer loading factor of less than 0.7 so they are eliminated. Re-analyzing the model after eliminating the variables mentioned above, the test results in Table 1 show that the scales all meet internal consistency (outer loading coefficients of the indicators/ variables are all greater than 0.7, Cronbach’s Alpha and the composite reliability of the scales are all greater than 0.7). At the same time, the average variance extracted (AVE) of the scales is greater than 0.5, so the research scales achieve the convergent validity.

Table 1

Results of reliability and convergent validity of the scales (to see Table 1, please click here)

For discriminant validity, previous studies often used the Fornell – Larcker criterion in order to evaluate discrimination, but Henseler & colleagues (2015) used simulation studies to demonstrate that the discriminant validity differentiation is better measured by the Heterotrait – Monotrait (HTMT), which represents an index they had developed. Therefore, this study uses the HTMT index to evaluate the distinction between scales/constructs. The HTMT criterion of pairs of structures to achieve a discriminant value is 0.85 (<=0.85) (Kline, 2015).

Table 2

Coefficient Heterotrait Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) (to see Table 2, please click here)

The results in Table 2 show that the values of the HTMT index are all less than 0.85, so the constructs in the model achieve discriminant value.

Evaluate the structural model PLS-SEM

According to Hulland & Bentler (1999), if the model receives an SRMR value of less than 0.1, it is considered suitable for the real data. Thus, with the SRMR value = 0.044 < 0.100, the research model is concluded to be suitable for the research area in Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam. Table 3 presents the PLS-SEM model evaluation values as proposed by Hair and et al., 2016.

Table 3

Result of values VIF, R², f², Q²(to see Table 3, please click here)

The results in Table 3 show that the variance inflation factor (VIF) of the independent variables is less than 3, so the research model does not have multicollinearity. The coefficient of determination R2 has a value of 0.577, showing that 57.7% of the variation in the family’s structure is explained by the independent variables in the model.

The impact coefficient f² of the independent variables on the dependent variable is all greater than 0.02 and most of them are less than 0.15, showing that the level of explanation of the independent variables on the dependent variable is quite low. In addition, the coefficient related to the model’s forecast has a value of 0.329 (<0.5), indicating that the level of forecast accuracy is average.

Figure 2

Results of PLS-SEM linear structural model (to see Figure 2, please click here)

Research by Chin, Marcolin & Newstedg (1996) analyzes the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable. In addition to considering whether the relationship is meaningful or not, the work must also analyze the intensity of the impact of relationships as a basis for resource allocation (Nguyen, Khuu, Phan, & Le, 2017). At the same time, to be able to generalize the research results to the whole, the model needs to be re-tested for reliability with the Bootstrap method with a repeated sample size of 5000 observations (Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle & Gudergan, 2017).

Table 4

Results of testing research hypotheses (to see Table 4, please click here)

The results in Table 4 show that the original weights are meaningful with the average weights of bootstrapping because all weights are within the 95% confidence interval. Thus, the estimates in the model can be concluded to be reliable. Besides, there are 3 factors that impact in the same direction on the influence of labor migration on family structure changes at the statistical significance level of 5% and 1%. In other words, the hypothesis H1 – H3 is accepted. Among them, first, the labor migration has the strongest impact on changing the relationship between parents and children (β = 0.773), the second is to change the relationship between the elderly and the way generations bond in the family (β = 0.760), and finally change the relationship between husband and wife (β = 0.435).

The model can be written as: Logit Y = 0.773*PC + 0.760*ER + 0.435*HWR.

Conclusion and recommendations

Conclusion

The test results for the case of labor migration in rural areas of Thanh Hoa province leading to changes in family structure show that, overall, compared to the convergence results in the studies of (Lei Lei, Sonalde Desai, 2021; Ekawati S. Wahyuni, 2005; Lu Yao, 2014; King & Vullnetari, 2006). There are similarities in the relationship between husband and wife, and the relationship between parents and children. However, the conclusions from this study are still different from the above research results when establishing the impact of the labor migration factors on the change in the relationship between the elderly and the way they work to connecting generations in the family.

Recommendations

Based on the research results, the authors have focused on several management implications for Thanh Hoa province in order to solve sustainable labor migration issues in parallel with the development of family culture, including:

First, In the context of the labor mobility, vocational training needs to focus on the young workforce migrating to cities and industrial zones, while the elderly and children are left behind. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular surveys on the employment needs of the immigrant workers to closely grasp the actual needs of the people and businesses in many places (villages, communities). To do this well, in addition to mobilizing specialized agencies (labor, statistics, agriculture, rural development), it is necessary to combine policy advocacy, career consulting and providing information to people about their needs and the labor needs of the business.

Second, the study researches and proposes social support policies to ensure that the elderly and children, especially those from poor migrant families with special circumstances, enjoy the social services.

Third, it develops policies to support the provision of social work services, protection services for the elderly and children at home, alternative care homes, communities, schools, and social assistance facilities…

Fourth, it focuses on building and managing lists of immigrant and non-immigrant families as a basis for direct or regular support for children and the elderly in difficult circumstances; it strengthens the community mobilization and form synergy so that children and the elderly receive better care and attention in the community.

Fifth, for migrant families, the management of civil status and household registration must be done well: migrants and residents are responsible for providing the village head with information about the migrants’ residence and workplace, and the village chief will make a list. Check information on people temporarily absent from the village and send the list to the commune People’s Committee. Those who remain in the village also need to contact the relevant local departments for medical, educational, and legal support… especially the elderly and the children, so that the authorities of the locality can understand the situation and receive timely help and support when they encounter difficulties.

Consent to participate

Informed written consent was obtained from each participant at the time of recruitment. The subjects were informed that they could withdraw from the study at any stage, and they were assured of confidentiality.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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