Chapter 8: Health Issues of Immigrant Children and The Helping Role of Schools

In 2020, at an international level, 36 million children were immigrants, according to the UNICEF international database of immigrant children. This number represents more than the total populations of the 20 largest cities in the US. Only 12 countries in the world reported to UNICEF that they had no child immigrants in 2020; most of these countries are small islands (UNICEF, 2021).

In 2020, one in every 66 children worldwide lived outside the country of his or her birth. 39 per cent of all international immigrant children live in Asia; 20 per cent in Europe; 18 per cent in Africa; 11 per cent in Northern America; 10 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean; and 2 percent in Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific islands (UNICEF, 2021). Some children are migrants within their own countries when their parents migrate for economic reasons, such as in China and India.