When the weather gets really extreme, families aren't just losing their savings—they’re losing their daughters.
April 3, 2026
Original Paper
Heat, Rainfall, and Child Relocation in South Asia
SocArXiv · y6f4m_v1
The Takeaway
In South Asia, climate stress leads households to send girls away while keeping boys at home. This shows that environmental disasters trigger specific gender biases where girls are treated as a burden to be relocated during hard times.
From the abstract
Climate change is reshaping economies, health, and family systems. One longstanding yet understudied family strategy is child relocation; the practice of sending children to reside with kin or social networks, a widespread practice across the Global South. Despite its demographic significance, no prior research has examined patterns of child relocation in South Asia, nor whether climate variability shapes these arrangements in the region. This study links nationally representative survey data fr