FEMALE MIGRATION IN THE INSULAR CARIBBEAN. A SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC APPROACH.

Latin America and the Caribbean, from the early 1950s starts a change of orientation of international migration with an emigration trend as a consequence, basically, of the european economic recovery and of the world in general, as well as the establishment of close political, economic and trade relations in the region with the United States
.This situation is evident, in particular, in small economies like the Caribbean affected by one sensitive exodus, among others, of teaching professionals and nurses. Specifically in the Caribbean, around the year 2000 while the total number of immigrants to the area represented 7.2% of the national population, the emigrants represented 15.5% of the population.
In the Caribbean this emigration is significantly marked by the increasing participation of women, who in some countries of the region have reached majority. This feminization of migration is related, inter alia with the demand for labour in service activities in recipient countries, the effects of social networks, and the modalities of family reunification, while the fundamental motivation of this movement is attributed to labour demand.
Characteristics, trends and implications of this process, not only labor but also family, are analyzed in the paper in case studies of selected Caribbean Islands