Migration and gender

A growing literature is focusing on the lives and practices of transnational families, particularly those with children. This study is based on the French context where despite a long history of immigration, the topic has been relatively overlooked. Even if numbers of transnational families based in France seem to have been decreasing in the last two decades, they have also changed in nature and are more often headed by female migrants. In this context, we aim to understand whether the migrant parent’s gender has an impact on the practices and migration projects within these families with some previous studies pointing to gender specific parental responsibilities. Our results point to the fact that in order to understand the differences in transnational fathering and mothering practices, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the transnational family. Integrating this dimension into the analysis reevaluates the role of gender on these practices.

By using a longitudinal study of 300 households in Sichuan and Anhui, this paper aims to combine the discussions of initiation of migration, returned migrants, and circular migration together. By building multi-level regression models, I use event history analysis to show how children and parents impact migrants’ migration decisions overtime. When other factors are controlled, children’s age and parents’ health impact men and women’s migration status in different ways: when the increase of children’s ages generally increases the probability of starting migration for men, the change of the children’s ages only impacts women’s out-migration when all children reach the age of six – the age when children start primary school. Women tend to return to the villages when the children are 16 years old and still in school – the time when the children are preparing for senior high school entrance exam. When children of the household start going to college, both men and women’s migration probability significantly increases. When the parents report bad health issues, the women are very likely to return to villages, while men’s migration status usually do not change. The results show how migration works as a household strategy in China, and gender still decides the division of labor within a household.

The aim of this paper is to compare the fertility differentials between internal fixed-date migrants and non-migrants in Brazil, in the periods 1995-2000 and 2005-2010, and to discuss the probable effects of the women’s migration in reproductive ages on the process of demographic transition in the country. The Brass’s Method will be used to correct the levels of fertility of fixed date immigrants and non-migrants in both periods. The data used in the estimations will be collected in the Brazilian demographic census of 2000 and 2010.
Preliminary results of the study for 12 mesoregions of Brazilian state of Minas Gerais suggest that there is relevant difference between the fertility of internal fixed-date migrant and non-migrant women for the analyzed periods. This fact could have contributed to retard the demographic transition in all mesoregions of the state, compared with the speed that this process would have in the absence of migration. Considering these preliminary results, to analyze the fertility differentials between migrant and non-migrant women could contribute to the understanding of the demographic transition in Brazil.

Whereas partnered men seem to gain economically from moving to a new place, partnered women seem to loose from it. Common attempts to explain this male dominance include gender differences in bargaining power and traditional gender roles. In this study, I am interested in the importance of the different occupations women and men hold. Female dominated occupations might have a secondary migration status and it has been argued that this is why women do not gain from migration. I test this hypothesis using Swedish population data, 1997-2007, including all individuals who are employed and have at least one common child with their partner. I follow their income development up until 5 years after migration is measured. Preliminary results reveal better income development for moving couples compared to staying couples. There is no individual gain for women, only for men. The woman’s share of the couple income increases faster for moving then for non-moving couples. However, even 5 years after the potential move, women in moving couples contribute to a lower share of the total couple income compared to women in staying couples. Next steps include doing OLS regressions for examining how the pattern changes when adjusting for gender differences in occupational characteristics.

This paper explores the multi-layered gender and family dynamics of migration aspirations. In many low- and middle-income countries, a substantial proportion of young adults wish to migrate internationally. In some cases, aspirations are similar between the sexes; in other cases, they differ. This paper explores the interactive determinants of men’s and women’s migration aspirations, taking into account their family circumstances. It does so on the basis of new survey data from 16 areas of origin of migration to Europe: four areas each in Morocco, Senegal, Turkey and Ukraine (N = 16 x 500). These areas differ with reference to migration history, social conservativeness and migration aspirations. In addition to personal migration aspirations, the survey data includes information on attitudes to the migration of men and women, family approval of migration, and interpersonal encouragement and discouragement of migration. This makes it possible to move beyond examining determinants of men’s and women’s aspirations separately. While the paper makes substantive contributions to the study of migration aspirations, it also aims to make methodological advances for comparative analyses of multi-sited survey data.

Differences in men’s and women’s work journey patterns are well documented in the literature. Women are known to commute shorter distances to and from work, but exhibit more complex travel patterns that involve child and household-related tasks. In Canada, a country known for extensive temporary and permanent geographic labour mobility among individuals and households, delving further into the gender mobility gap is necessary. This presentation will focus on the effect of gender dynamics within the household on individual work-commuting patterns using the 2006 Canadian Census masterfile. We examine the impact of several household demographic (age, number of children, income, etc.) and socio-economic (education, industry) characteristics, and find a large, unexplained, gap between men and women in the average distances traveled to work. We propose that this gap persists despite women's increased participation in all aspects of the labour force because gendered social reproduction at the household level remains relatively unchanged and because gendered occupational structures continue to impact occupational choice and therefore dictate work journeys.

The relationship between population mobility and development is a study topic draw attention in China and worldwide. This paper will study the issue in a gender perspective, to exam the impact of migration to rural-urban migrants, especially the duel impact to rural women. Women migrants made almost half of labor migrants in the last decade in China and the size is still increasing. With the most recent population census data and the Third Wave Survey on the Social Status of Women in China, both took place in 2010, this paper will describe the facts about migration by gender, including the size, age pattern, sex ratio of migrants, and motivation to migrate, and compare the current status with that of one decade earlier. With a framework of resource/opportunity—agency/competence—decision making/choice, this paper will analyze the impact of migration experience to rural women, and compare that with other reference groups, such as rural women never migrated or migrant men. The study find that migration provided more opportunities to rural women that never available before regarding economic participation and income earning, however the family constrains remain specifically to women, caught them in the dilemma of career development and family responsibility

The present paper, based on primary data collected from six villages in Kerala, focuses on the present living conditions and future plans of international female migrants after their return. The analysis revealed that female migrants had faced differing situations after their return. A vast majority of the return migrants had experienced financial problems as well as some kind of tensions in the family because of their return. About three fourth of the migrants were not working after their return and few of the returnees reported that they tried to get a job but did not succeed in getting job. The main type of work involved by the return migrants were domestic work, fish sale, coir industry and vegetable selling. A large proportion of the return migrants wanted to migrate in the future. The proportion who wanted to migrate again was relatively higher among women who were young, illiterate, who were not currently married, and whose last place of destination was Gulf countries. Furthermore, the intention of future movement was found to be higher among women who had faced some kind of financial problems as well as other problems in the family because of their return.

Female migration within India is highly variable in terms of their tendencies to migrate depending on their social status, socioeconomic positions at origin, religion, regional cultural differences, and demand for female labour. However, more recently female migration have increased and diversified. Women with rural origin are increasingly on move to India’s dynamic urban. This study tried to understand the extent of social contacts of female migrants at place of origin and destination and neighbourhood relations at destination. The paper is based on quantitative data collected from 585 female migrants and few in-depth interviews conducted in eight densely populated slums of Mumbai. Findings suggest female migrants feel well adjusted in the city. They not only have high interaction with people from other caste and religion in their neighbourhood but also trust them and rely on them for support. Those with longer duration of stay have developed higher support at the destination.

The number of incoming migrant women married to Korean locals is continuously increasing from the turn of 21st entury. Issues related to the adaptation of these women to the new country include overall satisfaction of basic needs such as language, education, and health, and material affluence such as earnings and housings in the early stage of settlement. Although it is essential to examine the psychological adaptation and happiness levels of those women, studies that found the factors on the subjective life satisfaction among this population is seriously lacking. For this reason, it is crucial to examine life satisfaction that reflects the hardships and the level of living of those women in Korean society. This study is interested in social capital as the way of independently sustaining self-supporting lives for future oriented improvement. The study found that life satisfaction was higher when the migrant women were with children, no Korean citizenship, no work experience, and dwelling in rural areas rather than urban areas. More specifically, positive associations were found with households’ income levels and social participation, but negatively with ages and periods of residence.