page_title: Women migrant workers from developing countries
section_title: Types of employment
hierarchical_section_title: Women migrant workers from developing countries / Types of employment
context_page_description: Women migrant workers from developing countries engage in paid employment in countries where they are not citizens. While women have traditionally been considered companions to their husbands in the migratory process, most adult migrant women today are employed in their own right. In 2017, of the 168 million migrant workers, over 68 million were women. The increase in proportion of women migrant workers since the early twentieth century is often referred to as the "feminization of migration".
  Most women workers immigrate from developing countries to high-income countries, with significant impacts on both their countries of origin and destination countries. Women migrant workers send upwards of $300 billion in remittances to their countries of origin each year, often using this money to pay for their families’ basic health, housing and education needs. On a macroeconomic level, remittances from emigrant workers can account for up to 25% of national gross domestic product, and help these developing countries cope with trade deficits and external debts.
context_section_description: Women migrant workers tend to be concentrated in a narrow range of highly gendered professions, including both unregulated industries such as agriculture, domestic and care work, and the sex industry, as well as highly skilled professions such as nursing.
caption: Young migrant woman worker who weeds sugar beets
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