Background

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While migration has received much policy and scholarly attention in recent decades, until recently, children have been largely overlooked in migration policies and discourse. They are typically seen as peripheral actors whose involvement with the phenomenon is by means of their parents’ migration.[1] In the Asia-Pacific, temporary labour migration is the predominant form of mobility, with millions of migrant workers taking up short-term, low-wage employment in sectors such as agriculture, construction, care work, and the service industry[2]. Labour migration governance is typically structured to ensure that low-waged workers migrate alone and stay only temporarily, without legal recognition of rights to family formation or family unity. Within this framework, children are left with few choices: they must either remain in countries of origin and endure the shocks of family separation or migrate irregularly to join their parents and risk becoming undocumented.

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Parents who are migrant workers often face unique challenges, such as unstable working hours, low wages, payment delays, wage theft, poor living and working conditions, and limited access to childcare, which can impact their ability to provide nurturing care to their children. Family-friendly workplaces – those that offer flexible hours, parental leave, childcare support, and other benefits – help reduce these pressures, allowing parents to balance work and family responsibilities more effectively.

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For migrant families, such environments not only promote the well-being of children but also contribute to family stability and the integration of the entire family within their new communities if children are residing with their parents in countries of employment. If children accompany their parents outside of safe and legal pathways, they are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and marginalization, often denied access to basic services – including education, healthcare, child protection, and social protection – and to legal recognition by host governments due to their migration status.

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Children of migrant workers remaining in countries of origin may also find themselves in circumstances of inadequate care and protection in the absence of their parents. Investment by States and businesses alike in family-centered, child-friendly assistance throughout the temporary labour migration cycle can prepare migrant workers, children, and families for periods of separation; support them to manage separation during the employment; and assist migrant workers and families in the reunification process on return.

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Measures taken by employers in the context of workplaces, employment conditions, and employee support offer possible solutions to provide migrant workers and children with the effective and inclusive care, support, and protection they need.

Family-Friendly Policies at the workplace provide migrant workers with time, resources, flexibility, services and support needed for their well-being and for the nurturing care and protection of their children. They include: 

1. Supporting sufficient paid leave to all parents and guardians – including those in the context of migration – in both the formal and informal economies, to meet the needs of their young children for care, health, protection and nutrition.

2. Ensuring that all children have access to affordable, quality childcare and early education, no matter what their migration status. 

3. Providing child benefits and adequate wages to help families provide for young children, including those in the context of labour migration, who are more vulnerable to exploitation and marginalization when families have low wages, a temporary or undocumented status, and/or inadequate care structures when parents migrate for employment. 

4. Delivering family-centered assistance and support to migrant workers and their children and families prior to, during and after periods of migration, particularly when family separation is a feature of a temporary labour migration program. 

 

Investing in social protection and employment through Family-Friendly Policies (FFPs) is crucial to consider the best interest of the child, as well as the well-being of their families in the context of labour migration. These policies are anchored in international human rights frameworks and labour standards such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 156 on Workers with Family Responsibilities, ILO Convention No. 183 on Maternity Protection, ILO Convention No. 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the ASEAN Declaration and Regional Action Plan on Children in the Context of Migration. 

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Both States and businesses have a pivotal role to play in redesigning the workplaces of the future, those which account for the positive contribution that migrant workers make to economies and society at large. Family-Friendly Policies that work for migrant workers help employers diversify the workforce, boost employee satisfaction, improve productivity, increase brand reputation, reduce operational and financial risks, while enabling working families to give their children the best start in life and contributing to women’s participation in the economy. Such measures are especially vital for children who remain in countries of origin, where parental absence can heighten risks of inadequate care and protection. Ultimately, investing in family-friendly policies ensures that migration contributes not only to economic growth but also to stronger, more resilient families and communities.

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Key Objectives

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Against this backdrop, the session Promoting Family-Friendly Policies for the care and protection of children and their families in the context of labour migration will explore how Family-Friendly Policies at the workplace can be a shared responsibility across sectors and borders, enabling governments and businesses to respond to the complex realities of labour migration, while promoting children's rights, family well-being, and gender equality. The main session objectives include:

• Position Family-Friendly Policies as key policy strategies to uphold children’s rights, the well-being of workers and better living conditions for families in the context of labour migration;

• Showcase how governments and businesses are addressing employment conditions affecting migrant parents and their children through Family-Friendly Policies;

• Highlight the importance of family-centered assistance to labour mobility to ensure the care and protection of children who remain in countries of origin during periods of parental migration;

• Identify opportunities to embed Family-Friendly Policies into corporate Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) processes and national regulatory frameworks informing businesses and supply chains benefiting from labour migration;

• Discuss how cross-border collaboration can establish safer pathways for labour migration and foster positive outcomes for families and their children in search of better job and life opportunities.

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Format

• Panel

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Session Partner