Impacts of rural-urban migration on family relationships and gender relations in mother-migrant and father-left-behind families in Vietnam
Creators: name: Dao, Bich Ha
Publisher: name: Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University
Year: 2018
Subjects: migration
left-behind
gender
families

description: Since Doi Moi in 1986 there has been an increasing demand for female labour in urban Vietnam. In response to that demand many rural women, including already married women with children, have left their families behind to engage in labour migration. They constitute an important segment of the labour force, but have received little attention in the literature. With a view to filling this gap in the literature, this study seeks to investigate the link between rural-urban migration and relationship breakdown and cohesion in conjugal and parent-child relationships in mother-migrant/father-left-behind families. It also seeks to understand how gender roles, gender identities and social norms shape the experiences of migrant mothers and left-behind fathers, and in turn how rural-urban migration has changed gender relations, gender roles and expectations, and intra-familial power within their families. The study employs both secondary data sources and primary data collected through fieldwork. First, to achieve a better sense of the importance of married female migrants who migrate alone in the contemporary migration context in Vietnam, four secondary data sources were made use of. They were 1. The 2009 Census 2. The 2008, 2010 and 2012 Vietnam Living Standard Surveys 3. The 2004 Vietnam Migration Survey and 4. The 2008 Survey on the Impact of Rural-Urban Migration. Unfortunately, all except the last data source have limitations which prevent accurate identification of the particular group of women of interest. Moreover, from the 2008 Survey on the Impact of Rural-Urban Migration only a small number of married female lone migrants were found. Although this number was not large enough for detailed quantitative analysis, each of the women still provided valuable information and were carefully treated as potential case studies. Second, 72 in-depth interviews were carried out with married female lone migrants, left-behind husbands and children, extended family kin and local leaders. Cases from the secondary data source and from the fieldwork were used together to explore the research topic. The study found that spatial separation through migration often imposed emotional strains on migrant women and their families. However, it did not seem to have caused serious impacts on their wellbeing and their family relationships because migrants and their left behinds usually put a great deal of effort into maintaining love, affection, nurturing, validation, moral support and cohesion within their families. The study also found that the migration of married females tended to be a strategy of rural households to diversify income, provide a buffer against economic shocks faced in home villages and fulfil reproduction responsibilities. The migration on decision, moreover, was shaped by social norms. It consequently created a more equitable division of labour within the household and shifted gender and power relations in a more egalitarian direction. These changes did not appear to have led to serious family tension or fragmentation, because migrant women and their husbands adopted various strategies to minimize strain on their family relationships and disruption to their families’ cohesion.