DOCUMENT RESUME ED 232 807 RC 014 216 AUTHOR Youssef, Nadia; And Others TITLE Women in Migration; A Third World Focus. INSTITUTION International Center for Research on Women, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Agency for International Development (IDCA), Washington, D.C. Office of Women in Development. PUB DATE Jun 79 GRANT AID/otr-G-1592 NOTE 190p.; For related document, see RC 014 215. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Academic Achievement; Age; Demography; *Developing Nations; Economic Factors; *Economic Status; Employment Patterns; Family Structure; *Females; Foreign Countries; Heads of Households; Males; Marital Status; *Migrants; *Migration Patterns; *Rural to Urban Migration; Sex Differences; Social Status IDENTIFIERS Africa; Asia; Central America; Middle East; South America ABSTRACT Spurred in part by the apparent contradiction between recent data on the magnitude of autonomous female migration and the lack of acknowledgment of that data in recent literature,a 1979 study attempted to define women migrants in 46 Third World Countries in terms of age, marital status, socioeconomic status, factors motivating migration, and effects of migration. Because data from publications, national censuses, and studies frequently didnot focus on autonomous female migrants, researchers constructed a sex differential migration index. While many regional differences existed in the areas studied (Africa, Asia, Central America, the MiddleEast, South America), female outmigration generally dominated onlyamong migrants over age 50. Most female migrantswere adolescent, in their early twenties, or over 50. Most were single and had less education than male migrants. A growing percentage migrated, often in step-wise fashion, for economic reasons. Having migrated to urbanareas, many female migrants found themselves in low-paying, low status jobs. Researchers noted increased family responsibilities for female migrants and for rural wives of male migrants, and the weakening effect of serious economic dimensions of women's migration andon autonomous female migration. (SB) **********************************************w************************ Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatcan be made from the original document. ******************w**************************************************** ... ..e>, . ....,...".; `9'...-..-ri:::.0.tyrk;"''.41.4.?"0:600-- . 4 55.5.5,,,45f5,554 ,,..6145.5v455.5' . ".055.5555 5, ; k la 1 t. ia $4 -10 .7i, .4. "1141C 7- - ..; jAitgt. -'.;-;!;;;;',41r- -74 4 ita,t:1; .14 ...re- `T- .. , ; ''*/!" '+-s, detze,-.1;,-*:1.if-.4,4,0'.;r4:-.;,1:: - . , . : "' . - . .. LIU a . ' 141SRATIiIN :'="if-- r*-- C.; -4.. 7 ". -A RD sfoRLD mcus Ve/ 4 '4171"os. C , *or C CtA, \., . 4 .... 'Kg. sa. ,(.. -°... -4tar .. \ '-- ..., '- .i5, - -.4 ' 55. -: PREPARED BY :'.711terEAAtioNACtieNTER S ARCH -ON WOMEN 1010 16TH STREET N WASHINGTON, D C.20036 -5 FOR : OFFICE OF WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WASHINGTON, .C.20523 fiRANTNo,. AID/p.m-G-1592 , - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Jute 1979 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION .Z-1, Z.. 7t - CENTER IERIC) This document has been reproduced as ; received from the person or organization , lMiginating it. ,.' 47 iner changes have been made to improve . reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated ri this docu - ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy. t 2 WOMEN IN MIGRATION: A THIRD WORLD FOCUS by Internatfonal Center for Research on Women* * Nadia Youssef, Mayra Buvinic, and Ayse Kudat (coordinating authors) with Jennifer Sebstad and Barbara Von Elm (contributing authors) The views and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Agency for International Development. AID/otr-G-1592 TABLE 0 F CONTENTS PAGE I. INTRODUCTION 1 II METHODOLOGY a. Data Sources 7 b. An Index of Sex Differences in Migration Trends 10 III WHERE ARE THEY?: MIGRATION PATTERNS a. Results: Sex Differences in Regional Migration Trends 16 b. International Migration 42 IV WHO ARE THEY?: CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN MIGRANTS 67 V WHY DO THEY MIGRATE?: FACTORS EXPLAINING THE MIGRATION OF WOMEN 82 VI ECONOMICS OF MIGRATION a. What is the Economic Situation of Women Migrants? 98 b. What is the Impact of Male Migration Upon Rural Women? 115 VII IMPACTS OF MIGRATION ON,FAMILY STRUCTURE 123 VIII IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY 143 TABLES and FIGURES BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEX A: Participants of the Policy Roundtable on "Migration and Women" ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was made possible by Grant No.AID/otr-G-l592 from the Bureau for Program and Policy Coordination (PPC/WID) ofthe Agency for International Development. We art grateful to Arvonne Fraser, WID Coordinator for her interest throughout the study. Eduardo Arriaga, Special Assistant for International Demographic Methods,U.S. Bureau of the Census, helped us develop the migration index. Special appreciation is extended to him. Sincere thanks go to Judith Johnson for her excellent editorial work and to Alissa Okuneff, for her assistance in the literature review. We are also indebted to James Brown, Economist, Bureau of the Near East, Agency for International Development, and William P.McGreevey Program Director, Population Study Center, Battelle,for their help in facilitating the initial stages of this work. ; TABLES and FIGURES Tables la Sex Differentials in Outmigration from Rural Areas in Third World Countries by Region and Indicating Total (TMI), Female-Dominated (FMI), and Male-Dominated (MMI) Outmigration. lb Sex Differentials in Outmigration from Rural Areas in Third World Countries by Region and by Age. 2 Standardized Ratio of Urban to Rural Population in Africa, by Country, Age and Sex. 3 Immigrants to Australia, Canada and USA froma Selected Number of Developing Countries. 4 Regional Comparisons of Index of Femaleness in Long Term Immigration and Emigration. 4a Male and Female Immigrants in Selected Countries Around 1965. 4b Age and Sex-Specific Long-Term Emigration from Selected Countries. 5 Sex-Specific Migration to Two Oil Producing Countries. 6 Composition of Turkish Migration Stream by Year and Sex. 7 Unemployment by Migrant Status and Regions Brazil, 1970. 8 Economically Active Population by Type of Activity Metropolitan Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1970. 9 Occupational Status of Economically Active Recent Migrants and Residents by Sex and Destination: Colombia, 1964 (In Percentages). 10 Percent Distribution of Incomes of the Economically Active Populations by Sex and Migration Status: Metropolitan Regions, Bra2i1, 1970. Figures 1 Deviations of the "Observed" Rural Female to Male Ratio from the "Expected" Female to Male Ratio for Africa by Countr) and by Five Year Age Groups. III Figures (continued) 2 Deviations of the "Observed" Rural Female to Male Ratio from the "Expected" Female to Male Ratio for Asia by Country and by Five Year Age Groups. 3 Deviations of the "Observed" Rural Female to Male Ratio from the "Expected" Female to Male Ratio for Latin America: Central America and the Caribbean. 4 Deviations of the "Observed" Rural Female to Male Ratio from the "Expected" Female to Male Ratio for Latin America: South America by Country and by Five Year Age Groups. 5 Deviations of the "Observed" Rural Female to Male Ratio from the "Expected" Female to Male Ratio for the Middle East by Country and by Five Year Age Groups. The title of this report will leadmany to question--justifiably--the reasons for singling out or isolating for study such a large group of people in the Third World who may have incommon only the fact that they are women. What does the sex variable represent, and does itadd anything to our understanding of developmentprocesses in general and migration trends in particular? Pecent evidence on the economic participation ofwomen sheds light on the first question, for women in Third World countries are often among the poorest of the poor. Contrary to conventional statistics (and wisdom), the economic participation of thesewomen in both the traditional and modern sectors is substantial, but it is also different from that of men, for women are generally overrepresentedin those economic sectors with low productivity and meager earnings. If, in addition, they have to bear the main economic responsibility for their families, theirs are the households with the least economicresources. Women-headed households in the Third World arenumerous and their numbers are growing. One of the factors contributing to the establishment and perpetuation of these households seems to be sex-specific migration; either men move in search of jobs andleave women and children behind, or women migrate autonomously and establish their own households. This link between women-headed households in the Third World and migration was the first in a chain of factors that motivated thisreport. 2 The absence of any analysis of the existing studiesof autonomous women migrants was the second. The third, and most important factor was the apparent contradiction between recent dataon the magnitude of migration moves of autonomouswomen, on the one hand, and the lack of acknowledgment of such data in the migration literature,on the other. The fourth was our awareness of the importance of informing those engaged in formulat'ng development programs and policy of,at the very least, the overall magnitudes and trends in Third World countries. Trends. It is a well-known and accepted fact that women predominate in rural to urban migration