Motherhood on the move: new evidence of vulnerability for central American mothers migrating with children

Although family units migrating together represent a considerable share of migrants in the Americas, there is limited research exploring how migrating with children shapes women’s migratory cycles. This study uses new survey data, collected in 2022 from deportees in reception centres in Honduras and El Salvador, to explore how displacement, including transit and return, differed for women migrating with children compared to those without. We analyse these differences across the migration cycle, particularly looking at reasons for migration, logistics of travel and accommodation, perceptions of safety, experiences of violence and abuse, impacts on health and emotional wellbeing, and eventual interception and deportation. The survey findings reveal that, along nearly all dimensions of the journey, the experiences of women migrating with children were markedly different than those migrating without. Importantly, the differences consistently point to the heightened vulnerability of mothers migrating with children, especially solo mothers with children. Quantitative data on these dimensions of the migratory journey are rare, and as such, this unique survey data adds evidence indicating that migrating with children creates an added intersection of vulnerability for many female migrants in Central America.