Do internal and international remittances matter to health, education and labor of children and adolescents? The case of Vietnam

•We estimate the effect of remittances on children and adolescents in Vietnam.•We do not find significant effects of remittances on school enrolment and labor.•However, international remittances increase the number of completed grades.•International and internal remittances increases outpatient health care visits.

Using data from Vietnam Household and Living Standard Surveys in 2006 and 2008, this study estimates the effect of the receipt of international remittances and internal remittances on education, labor and healthcare utilization of children and adolescents in Vietnam. It shows that there are no statistically significant effects of receipt of remittances on school enrolment as well as child labor of children and adolescents. However, receiving international remittances helps children increase the number of completed grades by around 2% of the average completed grade for children. Both international and internal remittances are positively associated with the number of outpatient health care visits.