Newcastle University, England, UK Peter Selman

Transcript:Newcastle University, England, UK Peter Selman:
Newcastle University, England, UK Peter Selman Newcastle University, UK pfselman@yahoo.co.uk June 2015 Twenty years of the Hague Convention: a Statistical Review A Demographic History of ICA Although intercountry adoption is often seen as starting with the adoptions from South Korea after the Korean war, there were also many adoptions during and following World War 2, while the movement of children to distant lands was a feature of British policy from the 19th century to the 1960s – the story of the child migrants. So the period 1995-2015 is just a small part of the demographic history. Since the end of WW2 I estimate at least one million children have moved to another country for international adoption. Sources of Data for Estimates Few countries sending children for ICA have kept detailed records over the whole period in which such adoptions took place. An exception is Korea, which records 165,000 international adoptions since 1953. For receiving States longest sequences are for USA and Sweden. My estimates are based on data from 20-24 states. SOUTH KOREA 1953-2010 Intercountry Adoption 1990-99 More than 380,000 children were adopted world-wide to 23/4 countries between 2000 and 2009, the most for any decade in history. From 2010-2013 there were a further 88,000 – and 2014 total seems likely to be 12-13,000 so that we can say that since 2000 there have been at least 480,000, nearly half my total estimate of ICA since 1945. From 1995 – 2014 total would be over 600,000. ICA in the 21st Century Intercountry Adoption 2001-2013 ICA after the Hague Convention In summary the ten years after the convention came into force saw the largest rise in inter-country adoption in the 70 years since WW2. However, since 2004 there has been a dramatic decline and by 2013 the annual total was the lowest since 1993 . In the tables below States of origin which have ratified the convention are in CAPITALS The Impact of the Hague on Numbers Preliminary Document No. 3 looks at this possibility for both receiving States and States of origin (para 61-75) and notes that a decrease in numbers occurred in receiving States joining the convention after 2004 – e.g. Ireland and the USA - but that numbers also fell in most States joining in the preceding decade who had typically experienced an increase after ratification. The next two slides look at States of origin. States with an