Changes in rural–urban sex ratio differences in the young professional age group as an indicator of social sustainability in rural areas: a case study of continental Spain, 2000–2010

Abstract

Unbalanced sex ratio in rural areas is currently an endemic problem in most western countries that needs to be addressed if socially sustainable rural development is to be achieved. Higher percentages of females migrating from rural areas to the cities have given rise to an unequal spatial distribution of the sex ratio along the urban-rural gradient. In this paper it is proposed that temporal changes in rural-urban sex ratio differences in the young professional age group who are mostly independent and living outside the parental home should be included as a relevant factor in the framework of multi-criteria monitoring of rural development policies. As a case in point, an analysis is carried out in continental Spain between 2000 and 2010 using the 30-39-year-old age group to focus on young people who for the most part have left the parental home. The overall results show that the sex ratio gap between rural and urban areas decreased during the decade in rural municipalities, independently of their size, which are contiguous to or at an intermediate distance from urban areas, as it did also in more remote medium-sized and large rural municipalities. The gap did not vary significantly in the case of smaller and more remote rural municipalities, though there were specific regional tendencies upward or downward. The method can be applied to other study areas at different spatial and temporal scales.

She leaves, he stays? Sex-selective migration in rural East Germany

“…The lack of women is especially pronounced in small, remote settlements (Gurrutxaga, 2013;Hamilton and Otterstad, 1998). There is, however, probably no independent community size effect.…”

“…There is, however, probably no independent community size effect. Population density and number of inhabitants are rather proxies for male-oriented labor market structures with a strong primary sector (Hamilton and Otterstad, 1998) and/or deficient services of general interest (Gurrutxaga, 2013). The connection between selective migration, a low quality of social services and the exclusion from cultural and civic participation is also highlighted by Spoor (2013).…”

Los estudios de género y sexualidad en España a través de las revistas de geografía (1990-2014)

“…En cierta medida, el resto de las (co)autorías corresponden prácticamente a las mismas personas que publican en España, como Baylina, Ortiz o Prats, todas de la UAB. Las excepciones están en Domínguez y Ávila (2013) y Gurrutxaga (2013), que no aparecen referenciados en la bibliografía española de geografía del género. Además, también hemos encontrado algunos textos cuya autoría proviene de otras disciplinas, aunque aborden la cuestión de género.…”

Recent Residential Mobility in Spain

“…Lamela (2006) shows how foreign immigrants are also the ones that move the most internally. The treatment of the impact between changes of residence and other social variables has also generated an extensive amount of literature, as in the case of rural gentrification (Janoschka et al, 2014;Duque Calvache, (2014), gender (Gurrutxaga, 2013), age (Hierro, 2006) or changes in the "perception" of rurality (Rivera, 2013). Catalonia is one of the Spanish regions that has most carried out exhaustive research on migration (Solana, 2010, Bayona et al, 2013, Pallares et al, 2014, although other regions have also received attention, such as Pozo Rivera et al, (2009) on Madrid, and Morillo et al (2010), on Andalusia.…”