Negotiated identities: Male migration and left-behind wives in India

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of husbands' migration on the lives of women left behind. Using data from the India Human Development Survey 2005, we focus on two dimensions of women's lives: women's autonomy and control over their lives; and women's labour force participation. Results suggest that household structure forms the key mediating factor through which husbands' absence affects women. Women not residing in extended families are faced with both higher levels of responsibilities and greater autonomy, while women who live in extended households do not experience these demands or benefits. Keywords migration; India; gender; family structure; IHDS; internal migration; consequences of migration; women's labour force participation; women's autonomy; women's mobility; intra-household decisionsResearch on migration has increasingly focused on women migrants (Bilsborrow 1992) and has also recognized the gendered nature of the migration process (Whiteford 1978; HondagneuSotelo 1992;Chin 1997;Yeoh et al. 1999;Lutz 2002;Curran and Rivero-Fuentes 2003;Morokvasic 2004;Shah 2004). However, surprisingly little attention is directed to women who are not migrants themselves but are deeply affected by the migration process: women whose husbands have migrated in search of work leaving them behind (Hugo 2000); a gap this paper seeks to fill.Unlike other demographic phenomena such as birth and death, migration is a process rather than an event. Diversity seems to be the norm when it comes to characterizing migration with respect to reasons for departure, length of migration, frequency of return to place of origin and ties to home communities (Goldscheider 1987;Massey et al. 1990;Lucas 1997).Nevertheless, a common pattern characterizing migration of men in developing countries is that they leave their wives and children in the place of origin while they migrate in search of work. For instance, a 'well-documented strategy' among Mexican rural households is for the men to migrate in search of employment while their families remain at home (Kanaiaupuni 2000). US immigration policies have supported and strengthened this form of migration through provisions that make it easier for women to legally migrate as spouses of male † Address for correspondence: Department of Sociology, 2112 Art-Sociology Building, University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742, United States of America. Email: sdesai@socy.umd.edu. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Popul Res (Canberra). Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 August 5. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript migrants, but until 1952 women could not legally sponsor their husbands as migrants. The rotation system or guest worker immigration policy that has been adopted in postwar Western Europe also encourages this pattern of solo male migration. This policy is tailored to meet a short-term demand for labour, with single males rather than entire families being given temporary work permits which are renewed annually. When economic conditions change...

One-person households in India

“…Migration could lead to reduction in household size due to the loss of a household member. But as Desai and Banerji (2008) have noted, migrant and nonmigrant household sizes do not differ in size, because women who are left behind usually stay with other family members. For young married women without children migration of a husband could potentially lead to creation of an OPH.…”

The interplay between household food security and wellbeing among small-scale farmers in the context of rapid agrarian change in India

“…In Anchetty, the responsibilities of women in many households increased threefold in the absence of their male partners. This trend of feminization in rural areas is an emerging phenomenon witnessed across South Asia today [56,57].…”

From Sunrise to Sunset: Male Out-Migration and Its Effect on Left-Behind Women in the Builsa District of Ghana

“…Thus rural out-migration of men leaves many women either temporarily or permanently in charge of agriculture and their households in rural areas. The efforts of these women are, however, undermined by the laborious nature of farming, labour constraints or by lack of access to productive resources especially in the face of widespread patriarchal system in Africa [9,11]. Male outmigration thus has differential effect on household members ranging from economic, social, emotional and psychological effects.…”

“…Whilst there have been several studies on migration in Ghana, much of the discussion have been on the patterns of migration and the socio-economic effects on the migrants themselves (see for instance [2]) with little attention paid to left-behind women in rural households. Yet the left-behind in these households are economically deeply affected by the migration process especially those who live in extended family households [9,11]. The economic, emotional and psychological effects of male out-migration on these women and its consequences on them have not been fully explored in the Ghanaian context.…”

“…Male outmigration thus has differential effect on household members ranging from economic, social, emotional and psychological effects. Many scholars who have discussed the effects of migration in Africa have tended to focus on the socio-economic effect particularly on the division of labour, and on how it can lead to an increase in the range of tasks and burden of rural women [3,9,11]. Whilst there have been several studies on migration in Ghana, much of the discussion have been on the patterns of migration and the socio-economic effects on the migrants themselves (see for instance [2]) with little attention paid to left-behind women in rural households.…”