Household Study of Nicaraguan Migrant Women
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PROJECT INT/00/M62/NET “PROMOTING DECENT EMPLOYMENT FOR MIGRANT WOMEN AND IMPROVED WELFARE FOR THEIR FAMILIES IN NICARAGUA” HOUSEHOLD STUDY OF NICARAGUAN WOMEN WHO HAVE EMIGRATED TO COSTA RICA SEEKING EMPLOYMENT Final Report Managua, July 2001 Prepared by: Milagros Barahona Portocarrero National Project Coordinator With assistance from: Sonia Agurto, Consultant Household Study of Nicaraguan Female Emigrant Laborers in Costa Rica CONTENTS Theme Page Number 0. Introduction 4 0.1 Study Context 4 0.2 Project Rationales: Why Migration? 4 0.3 Report Content 4 CHAPTER 1 1. Methodology 5 1.1 Conceptual References 5 1.2 Areas of Study 7 1.3 Criteria and Procedures for Selecting the Sample 7 1.4 Data Collection Techniques 7 1.5 Information Processing 8 1.6 Problems Encountered 8 1.7 Terms of Reference for the MW Household Survey 8 CHAPTER 2 2. Contexto Nacional 11 2.1 Socio-Demographic Context 11 2.1.1 The Country 11 2.1.2 The Sample Municipalities and Departments 11 2.2 The National Socio-Economic Context 13 2.2.1 Poverty 13 2.2.2 Employment and Income Nationwide 14 2.2.3 Women's Economic Contribution 15 2.2.4 Child Labor 16 2.2.5 Migration in Nicaragua 17 CHAPTER 3 3. Characteristics of the Households of Female Migrant Laborers 19 3.1 Number of Households and their Rural-Urban Distribution, by Municipality 19 3.2 Households and the Number of People per Dwelling or Home 19 3.3 Composition of Heads of Household, by Age and Gender 20 3.4 Composition of Household Members, by Age and Gender 20 3.5 Marital Status 22 3.6 Educational Levels 22 3.7 Place of Origin and Residence 25 3.8 Employment and Main Activities 25 3.9 Employment Income and Revenue from Other Sources 27 CHAPTER 4 4. Current Male and Female Migrants 30 4.1 General Characteristics of Current Emigrants 30 4.2 Some data about the Husbands/Partners of Women who have Emigrated 31 4.3 Aspects related to the Working Conditions of Emigrants 31 2 Household Study of Nicaraguan Female Emigrant Laborers in Costa Rica 4.4 Family Remittances, Survival Strategies of Family Groups 33 4.5 Women who have Worked Abroad and have Returned 36 4.6 Women who Intend to Emigrate 38 4.7 Motivation 41 4.8 The Migration Network 43 4.9 The Legal Status of Female Labor Emigrants 44 4.10 The Association of Domestic Workers 45 CHAPTER 5 5. Children of Emigrant Families 48 5.1 Children 3-5 Years of Age: Education and Health Care 48 5.2 Children 6-18 Years of Age: Education and Domestic Labor 48 5.3 Children 6-18 Years of Age: Income-Generating Work 50 5.4 The Children of Emigrants 55 5.5 General Opinions and Attitudes toward Children 56 CHAPTER 6 6. Lessons Learned 61 6.1 Main Variable Correlations 61 6.1.1 Poverty and Female Labor Migration 61 6.1.2 Migration, Legal Status and Rights 61 6.1.3 Gender Relations and Female Migration 63 6.1.4 Mother-Father-Child Relations 64 6.2 Conclusions 65 6.2.1 Characteristics of the Family Groups of Female Migrants 65 6.2.2 Schooling 66 6.2.3 Employment and Income 66 6.2.4 Current Emigrants 67 6.2.5 Children from Families with Female Emigrants 67 6.3 Recommendations for Concrete Actions and Policies 68 6.4 Project Recommendations for Concrete Actions 69 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 71 Bibliography 73 3 Household Study of Nicaraguan Female Emigrant Laborers in Costa Rica 0. INTRODUCTION 0.1 Study Context The ILO's Gender Program is implementing Projects that are geared toward identifying the existing interrelationships between female employment and child labor, in order to promote national and international policies that generate more and better employment possibilities for women. Such opportunities will also aid women's gradual empowerment, and help reduce and eventually eradicate child labor. With the "Program to Eliminate Child Labor" (IPEC-ILO) as an antecedent, and following a thorough review of other models developed in Latin America, the International Labour Organization's Gender Promotion Program has begun a pilot project in Nicaragua to "Protect Migrant Women and Improve the Living Conditions of Children Affected by Migration." The pilot phase of the project includes two components: a household survey of migrant women, and direct actions with select target groups from the communities being studied. The Household Study of Migrant Women will be the starting point for this project, giving us a more extensive understanding of the phenomenon of female migration and the relationship between employment, gender relations and relations with children in households affected by migratory processes. It will simultaneously provide a basis for promoting specific medium and long range actions, both within and beyond the scope of this project. 0.2 Project Rationale: Why Migration? In its effort to identify more and better employment opportunities for women, the Gender Program has identified female labor migration as a growing social phenomenon that needs to be further explored. Presently, we have only a limited understanding about the interrelationships between the economic factors motivating and resulting from the displacement of migrant women and the social and cultural factors that are central to well-being and a quality life, such as gender equity and the conditions that guarantee comprehensive development for these women's children. Female employment beyond Nicaragua's borders is becoming an increasingly important alternative for entry into the labor market, and as an "escape valve" for highly impoverished families who are unable to satisfy their basic needs. 0.3 Report Content This report is comprised of five chapters that follow the Introduction. The first chapter clarifies some concepts and definitions used by the study, as well as its methodology and terms of reference. The second presents the national and local contexts vis-a-vis female economic migration as an employment modality, while the third chapter examines the general characteristics of the households and families of women who have emigrated. The fourth chapter presents the objective and subjective conditions of immigrants (most of whom are women) currently working in Costa Rica, as well as some aspects of gender relations within this migratory process. The fifth chapter explores the situation of children in these households, and some aspects of gender inequities in their socialization. Finally, chapter six presents the conclusions and recommendations for policy development and direct intervention. 4 Household Study of Nicaraguan Female Emigrant Laborers in Costa Rica CHAPTER 1 - Methodology 1.1 Conceptual References We feel it would be useful to present some conceptual references related to the themes addressed in this study, and to comment on the degree of precision or ambiguity that we find in some of these concepts. We understand the term "economic migration" or "labor migration" as a social phenomenon that consists of population displacement motivated by two key factors. One of these is the labor force's expulsion from its community of origin, and the other is the degree to which the labor force is attracted to the community where it has migrated. This study is concerned with "external" economic emigration, because the displacement being studied involves moving from one country to another and crossing national borders. Since this study focuses on the displacement of Nicaraguan women outside of their country, particularly to the neighboring country of Costa Rica, we refer to female emigration and study this phenomenon from the viewpoint of the country of origin. Thus, when we use the term "migrant" we are referring to emigrants, although the same person is, of course, an "immigrant" in Costa Rica. We understand employment-seeking migration in general, and female migration in particular, as part of the phenomenon of globalization, and particularly of "globalized capitalism." Although the predominant traits of this phenomenon are internationalization and the free movement of capital and assets, it has also been an outgrowth (though to a lesser degree and more selectively) of the need to mobilize the work force in order to confront the pressure of competition. This pressure is resolved primarily through reducing labor costs. It is here, in the context of the open market's interest in a mobile and flexible workforce, that we find an explanation for labor migration, which is generally unregulated and irregular. This irregular labor migration usually occurs between countries with less qualified human resources and countries with expanding economies and/or more qualified human resources. The countries with expanding free market economies have no interest in regulating the work force's free movement. The female emigration being studied here may be characterized as irregular labor migration. In addressing the theme of economic migration and its relationship to poverty and the development of the "migrant-providing" countries, there are a broad range of interpretations about whether this social phenomenon should be viewed as "neutral" or whether it has positive or negative implications for the displaced populations and the "expelling" communities. These interpretations are based on different conceptions of development, and its requirements. Some authors think that emigration brings modernization and positive results for the subjects who are displaced to other countries in search of better paid and more technically sophisticated work, in more heterogeneous and tolerant cultures. Migration is viewed as an act of individual choice. Others, however, believe that employment-seeking emigration only leads to dependence and social and economic deterioration. The terms that are used vary according to these different conceptions. For example, it is not the same to speak of illegal migrants or irregular migrants, or of the "migrant-providing" country as the country of origin or the expelling country.