Female "birds of passage" a decade later: gender and immigration in the European Union

"First, this article critically assesses the dominant accounts of the sequence of labor migration and family reunification and argues that it is time to reclaim the heterogeneity of women's past migratory experiences in our understanding of European patterns of post-war immigration. Second, it examines family migration, covering diverse forms of family reunification and formation which, although the dominant form of legal immigration into Europe since the 1970s, has received relatively little attention. Third, it explores the implications of the diversification of contemporary female migration in the European Union and argues for the necessity of taking account of the reality of changing patterns of employment, households and social structures to advance our understanding of European immigration."

Patterns of spouse/fiance sponsorship to Australia

"This article is based on research conducted in 1992 for the [Australian] Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. The aim was to investigate both repeat and serial sponsorship...for all groups of women, though the majority are from Asia. Interviews with women who had been sponsored, community and health workers, refuge workers and others revealed that repeat sponsorship was a common phenomenon. Further, repeat sponsors demonstrated a high level of perpetration of various forms of domestic violence."

The impact of migration on gender roles: findings of field research in Turkey

"This article suggests an alternative approach to unravel the impact of migration experiences on gender roles of women [in Turkey].... Analysis of the pre-migration settings of women included in this study involves an attempt to delineate background characteristics, including types of marriage and family arrangements, levels of education and work experiences outside the household in order to assess relative impact on their post-migration characteristics.... Differences among the women in terms of their exposure to migration have also been taken into account as part of their migration experiences.... The main focus of the research is changing gender roles of women rather than their emancipation." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)

Migration and the family: the female perspective

"This article shows that a family perspective is especially important for the analysis of female migration because: (1) women are major participants in 'family migration' as defined by governments and, although they benefit from family reunification provisions, they are also constrained by them; (2) migrant women are important economic actors and their participation in economic activity is closely related to the needs of their families, so that the choices that migrant women make regarding work cannot be understood without taking into account the situation of their families and women's roles within them; (3) women are increasingly becoming migrant workers in order to improve the economic status of their families; and (4) women rely on their families to provide various types of support that both make migration possible and condition its outcome. A review of the literature provides evidence supporting each of these observations."

Female immigrants: a socioeconomic portrait

"In this study, we supplement the limited knowledge about immigrant women by documenting their presence in the U.S. immigration flow and their socioeconomic standing. In doing so we review some of the theoretical explanations for female international migration.... We use two measures of inequality. First, the standing of immigrant women relative to native women; second, evaluation of the standing of immigrant women relative to immigrant men."

Issues in research on women, international migration and labor

"This paper discusses several themes that are useful in organizing research on women, migration, and work, and consists of four parts. It begins with a review of types of migration systems and highlights the importance of specifying migration systems when examining women migrants and work. The main theoretical approaches in migration and labor are discussed in the second part of the paper. This is followed by a section on several dimensions critical for research on women migrants. In particular, it shows that the effects of gender, race and ethnicity, social class, cohort, and history should be explicitly considered because the migration and labor market experiences of women migrants profoundly differ from that of men. The paper concludes with a discussion of some research and policy implications."

[Migrating women: Mexican women in the United States]

"This analysis considers some aspects of the international migration of Mexican women, seen under the light of two recent statistical sources: the [U.S.] 1990 census and the 1993-1994... International Migration Survey at the Mexican Northern Border. The joint analysis of migrations and migrant inventories reveals the hidden scope of feminine exile, as well as some of its peculiarities, and offers numerical answers to two questions: How does sex differentiate Mexican immigrants in the United States? How does the migration affect work, marriage, child-bearing, etc. of Mexican women? The results suggest the need to address migration no longer as an action of individuals, but of families (most immigrants are married), and to place the mother or the wife at the gravity center of the household migratory space." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Migration from Latin American countries to the United States: the economic, social and reproductive lives of Hispanic female immigrants, 1980

The authors describe the socioeconomic characteristics and fertility patterns of female immigrants from Latin America to the United States, with a focus on reasons for fertility differentials. "Using the one per cent public use sample from the 1970 and 1980 United States census, we first compare changes in socio economic characteristics from 1970 to 1980, and then examine the determinants of fertility of female immigrants to the United States, aged 16-49, from four Latin American areas or countries of birth.... The findings...suggest that there are direct effects of demographic, assimilation, and socioeconomic variables beyond those mediated by the variables in each of these sets. Further, regardless of the model, the effect of the clusters of demographic characteristics is most apparent. Age categories and marital status are the strongest indexed determinants of immigrant fertility.... The effect of education and employment is strong. Among assimilation variables, duration of residence and language ability are significant determinants of Hispanic immigrant fertility." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)

Divorce in contemporary Japan

Data from the 1985-86 Japanese census are analysed to explore the determinants of the divorce rates in Japan's forty-seven prefectures, using two theoretical models: (a) the social integration model, which is shown to have a greater utility in predicting Japanese divorce levels than (b), the human capital model. Female emigration patterns play a significant role in affecting the divorce rate. Population increase and net household income are also important predictors of the Japanese divorce rate and urbanization has a great influence in modern Japan. Demographic and aggregate variables such as migration, urbanization, and socioeconomic factors are useful when organized under a social integration model.

Caribbean international circulation: are Puerto Rican women tied-circulators?

Aspects of migration between Puerto Rico and the United States are explored. "This examination of the multiple-movement behaviour of a sample of Puerto Rican women seeks to unravel the relations between their circulation patterns, their family and contextual situations and their declared motives for undertaking international mobility. The leading question asked in this study is whether this international mobility behaviour of Puerto Rican women is autonomous or dependent upon the movement or decision-making of others. Structural theory suggests the latter is most likely, but behavioural divergence occurs in return movement."

Women in internal and international migration, with special reference to Latin America

The recommendations for further action made by the International Conference on Population (Mexico City, 1984) in the area of population distribution and internal and international migration continue to be an accurate reflection of the current state of scientific and political thinking in Latin America, except for the 1 topic on which they are deficient--female migration. An increasing body of research findings demonstrates the importance of women migrants--especially women as independent migrants. The predominance of women in Latin American rural-to-urban migration flows is well known, but female majorities are found in other important flows (e.g., in some inter-urban and international flows) as well. In general, female migrants tend to be younger than their male counterparts. The kinds of employment most commonly sought by women migrants are related to their traditional roles in the home and in child-rearing. The problems faced by migrant women differ from those confronting men who migrate and vary greatly over a wide range of conditions.

[America Manna: women and migration in a global perspective]

This article considers the role of migrant women in light of the contribution to the demographic, social, and economic development of the receiving country. The high level of development for these areas has always been fostered by the ready availability of a salaried work force and its easy replacement. The cost of labor in the country of origin is different from that in the receiving country and thus often results in a parallel work force and fosters forms of discrimination. With the crisis of the "rotation" model in the 1970s, the cost of replacing the work force has been concentrated in the countries of origin while official politics, which limited the immigration of family members, placed a greater burden on the women and the children of the emigrants, and increased the danger of their gradual marginalization.