Feminization of migration
Encyclopedia
The Feminization of migration is a recent trend in which gendered patterns are changing and a higher rate of women are migrating
for labor or marriage. The percentage of female migrants world-wide has risen from 46.7 percent in 1960 to 49.6 percent as of 2005, according to United Nations
statistics. Research on the gender patterns of migration have increased substantially over the past several decades. Some of the issues this research attends to are remittances
and their economic impacts, family cohesion, racialization
of migrants, human trafficking
, gendered division of labor, and economic as well as educational opportunities.
, and to escape domestic constraints; in search of automony, and as a result of the social construction of prestige, achievement, adventure and fulfillment.
A more recent shift in migration patterns relates to an increase in the migration of single women and partnered women who migrate without their families. Due to stipulations present within contract-based employment, worker families are prevented from permanently settling and as a result, women are migrating alone.
The gendered division of labor includes reproductive labor, which refers to work performed within the domestic or private sphere and which helps to sustain a household (e.g. cleaning, cooking, child care and rearing, etc.). Reproductive labor enables paid, productive labor to take place. Reproductive labor is typically performed by women and, as dominant gender discourses are threaded throughout labor ideologies, domestic work has historically been considered a “natural” part of a woman’s duties and identity
. As such, feminized labor has typically been considered “unskilled” and, thus, has gone unpaid.
As noted by Filipino popular culture studies
professor Roland Tolentino, when women migrate to perform domestic labor, “unpaid home labor in the domestic sphere becomes paid labor in international spaces.”
Discursive and material processes of racialization influence representations of migrant workers, the venues and methods used to recruit them, and the conditions under which they will be expected to work.
has spurred workers to migrate from poorer Southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines
and Indonesia
, to more wealthy nations and areas, like Hong Kong
, Singapore
and Taiwan
, in the search for employment. As a result of globalization
, women are migrating in increasing numbers and entering the domestic services, a phenomena which scholars refer to as “the global nanny chain” or “the international division of reproductive labor.”
Not all migratory flows come from poorer regions, however. In the Philippines, for example, flows often come from more developed regions. Thailand
has seen an increase in feminized migration from higher classes as well. Once practiced exclusively by the wealthy elite, the 1960s marked a time when middle-class Sino-Thai families began to increasingly send daughters overseas in pursuit of higher education
.
to First World
nations occur as a result of First World imperialism
which has depleted natural resources
, and increased debt and poverty
in the Third World. First World financial institutions like the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF), for example, require borrowing countries to follow contracted regulations detailed in structural adjustment
programs (SAPs), and these programs hinder the sovereignty
of poorer nations because they control governments’ use and allocation of loaned funds and include stipulations which require government to reduce State provisions of social services. As noted by Grace Chang
, imperialism extracts "land, products, labor, and lives." She illuminates an alternative perspective on migration in which First World imperialism “forces many people in the Third World to migrate to follow their countries’ wealth."
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
for labor or marriage. The percentage of female migrants world-wide has risen from 46.7 percent in 1960 to 49.6 percent as of 2005, according to United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
statistics. Research on the gender patterns of migration have increased substantially over the past several decades. Some of the issues this research attends to are remittances
Remittances
A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to his or her home country. Note that in 19th century usage a remittance man was someone exiled overseas and sent an allowance on condition that he not return home....
and their economic impacts, family cohesion, racialization
Racialization
Racialization refers to processes of the discursive production of racial identities. It signifies the extension of dehumanizing and racial meanings to a previously racially unclassified relationship, social practice, or group...
of migrants, human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
, gendered division of labor, and economic as well as educational opportunities.
Migration as a Gendered Phenomenon
Previous statistical evidence on migration patterns have not often been classified by gender. Only recently have gendered statistics on migration been made available. In 1998, the United Nations Population Division first released a set of estimates from 1965 to 1990 that separated male and female migrants. An increase in available data on migration revealing gender has led not only to the understanding that women play a large role in migration, but that migration itself is a gendered phenomenon.Influencing Factors
Numerous factors influence a woman’s decision to migrate. An unexhaused list includes: financial distress, the prospect of financial gain, and hopes of preparing for the future; family dissolution, lack of direction and choice in the homelandHomeland
A homeland is the concept of the place to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin...
, and to escape domestic constraints; in search of automony, and as a result of the social construction of prestige, achievement, adventure and fulfillment.
A more recent shift in migration patterns relates to an increase in the migration of single women and partnered women who migrate without their families. Due to stipulations present within contract-based employment, worker families are prevented from permanently settling and as a result, women are migrating alone.
The Gendered Division of Labor
Much of the work made available to women migrants is gendered and concentrated in the entertainment industry, health services, and most of all in the domestic services.The gendered division of labor includes reproductive labor, which refers to work performed within the domestic or private sphere and which helps to sustain a household (e.g. cleaning, cooking, child care and rearing, etc.). Reproductive labor enables paid, productive labor to take place. Reproductive labor is typically performed by women and, as dominant gender discourses are threaded throughout labor ideologies, domestic work has historically been considered a “natural” part of a woman’s duties and identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
. As such, feminized labor has typically been considered “unskilled” and, thus, has gone unpaid.
As noted by Filipino popular culture studies
Popular culture studies
Popular culture studies is the academic discipline studying popular culture from a critical theory perspective. It is generally considered as a combination of communication studies and cultural studies....
professor Roland Tolentino, when women migrate to perform domestic labor, “unpaid home labor in the domestic sphere becomes paid labor in international spaces.”
Racialization of Migrant Workers
Migrant workers are racialized via discursive and material avenues in three primary ways:- through policy regulations,
- in their recruitment and representation, and
- via interactions with employers and the larger community
Discursive and material processes of racialization influence representations of migrant workers, the venues and methods used to recruit them, and the conditions under which they will be expected to work.
Migration within East Asia
Since the 1970s, economic growth in East AsiaEast Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
has spurred workers to migrate from poorer Southeast Asian countries, like the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, to more wealthy nations and areas, like Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, in the search for employment. As a result of globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
, women are migrating in increasing numbers and entering the domestic services, a phenomena which scholars refer to as “the global nanny chain” or “the international division of reproductive labor.”
Not all migratory flows come from poorer regions, however. In the Philippines, for example, flows often come from more developed regions. Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
has seen an increase in feminized migration from higher classes as well. Once practiced exclusively by the wealthy elite, the 1960s marked a time when middle-class Sino-Thai families began to increasingly send daughters overseas in pursuit of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
.
Criticism
Some theorists assert that migration flows from Third WorldThird World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
to First World
First World
The concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States. These countries were democratic and capitalistic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "First World" took on a...
nations occur as a result of First World imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
which has depleted natural resources
Natural Resources
Natural Resources is a soul album released by Motown girl group Martha Reeves and the Vandellas in 1970 on the Gordy label. The album is significant for the Vietnam War ballad "I Should Be Proud" and the slow jam, "Love Guess Who"...
, and increased debt and poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
in the Third World. First World financial institutions like the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF), for example, require borrowing countries to follow contracted regulations detailed in structural adjustment
Structural adjustment
Structural adjustments are the policies implemented by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in developing countries. These policy changes are conditions for getting new loans from the International Monetary Fund or World Bank, or for obtaining lower interest rates on existing loans...
programs (SAPs), and these programs hinder the sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
of poorer nations because they control governments’ use and allocation of loaned funds and include stipulations which require government to reduce State provisions of social services. As noted by Grace Chang
Grace Chang
Grace Chang , aka Ge3 Lan2 , is a Chinese actress and singer.Born in Shanghai, Chang moved with her family to Hong Kong in 1948....
, imperialism extracts "land, products, labor, and lives." She illuminates an alternative perspective on migration in which First World imperialism “forces many people in the Third World to migrate to follow their countries’ wealth."