Conducting research is an important part of how TCK Training cares for globally mobile families. In 2024, we ran a survey of 1,643 Adult TCKs, including 105 people who lived abroad during childhood due to a parent's choice to take a job in their field overseas. Nearly half of these families took work in the education sector, with the rest comprising a wide variety of roles. This included work in the medical field, film industry, research, and 10% who were entrepreneurs.

We have labeled this sector "Education & Other Work" to acknowledge that educators were the majority of those who chose to work abroad.

The research compiled from their responses reflects the complexity of an international upbringing, with both wonderful experiences and difficult impacts represented in the data:

93% of Education & Other TCKs saw a "broad worldview" as one of their strengths

90% of Education & Other TCKs said living internationally as a child was a good experience overall

77% of Education & Other TCKs said their childhood was "the best way to grow up"

84% of Education & Other TCKs experienced symptoms of at least one mental health concern 

50% of Education & Other TCKs had been diagnosed with at least one mental health concern

Respondents were offered a list of statements and asked which reflected their own experiences of growing up as TCKs. These statements were based on common sentiments expressed during our work with hundreds of TCKs, including those we support with Unstacking Sessions. There were a lot of positive sentiments expressed, including:

• 97% of Education & Other TCKs could see both good and hard parts in their story. 
• 90% of Education & Other TCKs said living internationally as a child was a good experience overall.
• 77% of Education & Other TCKs said this was “the best way to grow up”.
• 61% of Education & Other TCKs said living abroad made their family closer. 

20% of Education & Other TCKs said their experience was “mostly painful” which was similar to what we saw in other sectors. It is important to remember that the majority of Education & Other TCKs said they could see both good and hard parts in their story, and that living overseas was a good experience overall.

We also reviewed how parents’ occupation impacted TCKs by asking which statements they identified with as children. Education & other TCKs were far less identified with their parents' work than other TCKs (such as the children of diplomats, military personnel, and missionaries). Nearly one third of Education & Other TCKs (31%) said they were "indifferent" to their parents work abroad - that it was no different to working elsewhere - and only 34% identified with their parent’s work/purpose – around half than seen in other sectors. 53% of Education & Other TCKs were proud of their parent’s work abroad - lower than TCKs highly identified with parents' work - but half said that as children they wanted to follow in their parents' footsteps, similar to other TCKs and higher than Corporate TCKs (the other sector siginficantly less identified with parents' work).

There seemed to be benefits to this 'disconnect' from parents' occupation. Education & Other TCKs were less likely to feel pressure to "perform" while visiting their passport country (36%), pressure to be "perfect" while living abroad (31%), or fear that misbehavior on their part would cause their family's departure (18%). 

Drawing from our experiences working with hundreds of TCKs, we also curated lists of potential strengths and struggles that might be identified during adulthood. These were predominantly taken from things we regularly hear TCKs say when describing their experiences, but also included words and phrases that are often used to describe the TCKs life – for better or worse.

There were many areas in which Education & Other TCKs saw strengths in their adult selves, such as the 93% who saw a Broad Worldview as one of their strengths. Education & Other TCKs were more confident of certain strengths than other TCKs, including:

• 87% of Education & Other TCKs identified Compassion as a strength
• 85% of Education & Other TCKs identified Empathy as a strength
• 81% of Education & Other TCKs identified Open-Mindedness as a strength
• 61% of Education & Other TCKs identified being Self-Motivated as a strength
• 55% of Education & Other TCKs identified having Goals & Aspirations as a strength

In addition, 84% of Education & Other TCKs identified being a Bridge Between Cultures as a strength, 77% of education & other TCKs saw Adaptability as one of their strengths, and 68% of Education & Other TCKs identified Resilience as a strength.

In most areas, Education & Other TCKs identified these areas of struggle in adulthood at similar rates to other TCKs. The key difference came in feeling unexpected emotions relating to childhood mobility: Education & Other TCKs were much less likely than other TCKs to experience unexpected sadness, but more likely to experience unexpected anger.

Education & other TCKs' greatest areas of struggle included:

• 76% of Education & Other TCKs had trouble belonging
• 60% of Education & Other TCKs experienced identity uncertainty
• 50% of Education & Other TCKs experienced "itchy feet"
• 48% of Education & Other TCKs had difficulty naming their own feelings
• 46% of Education & Other TCKs experienced unresolved grief

A range of questions were asked regarding experiences of mental health. This included discussions of childhood and adulthood experiences, what mental health care was available (and which was most helpful), screening questions developed in conjunction with several mental health professionals, and questions regarding formal medical diagnoses. We will begin here by looking at key symptoms of mental ill health reported by Education & Other TCKs through screening questions. 

33% of Education & Other TCKs said they experienced a “serious mental health crisis” during childhood. 84% of Education & Other TCKs surveyed had experienced symptoms of at least one mental health concern during their lifetime, and half (50%) had at least one formally diagnosed mental health condition. This is similar to what was seen in TCKs from other sectors. The slightly higher diagnosis rate is a good thing, indicating that Education & Other TCKs were more likely to receive the support they needed.

A high percentage of Education & Other TCKs had experienced symptoms consistent with anxiety (70%), depression (53%), PTSD (47%), and suicidal ideation (44%). While mostly consistent with the rates seen in other TCKs, Education & Other TCKs were 17% more likely to experience anxiety than other TCKs, and 10% less likely to experience symptoms of depression.

Anxiety was the most commonly diagnosed condition among Education & Other TCKs. Half of all Education & Other TCKs were diagnosed with anxiety (49%), one quarter with depression (25%), and one quarter (25%) had been diagnosed with panic attacks.

The lower diagnosis rates for other conditions is not necessarily a good thing. Nearly a third of Education & Other TCKs answered the screening question for disordered eating in the affirmative, saying they had engaged in these practices - but only 23% of these received a diagnosis. 29% of those who affirmed that they had self harmed had been diagnosed. Only 19% of those who experienced suicidal thoughts were diagnosed.

Previous research showed that a significant proportion of TCKs grew up in homes where adults struggled with their own mental health. It is important that Education & Other families living internationally receive support to improve the mental health of parents and children alike.