Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Empowered by Absence: Does Male Out-migration Empower Female Household Heads Left Behind?

Journal of International Migration and Integration volume 22, pages 503–527 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Male out-migration from rural areas means women left behind may have the opportunity to assume roles and responsibilities previously handled by their husbands. This shift in household power dynamics may enable these women to become more empowered which would reflect positively in their asset ownership, productive decision-making, household expenditures, personal autonomy, and exposure to domestic violence. This paper contributes to this emerging literature by evaluating whether the absence of the primary male, due to migration, empowers the women left-behind in rural Bangladesh. To account for self-selection and endogeneity bias arising from migration, we employ propensity score matching and instrument variable techniques, respectively, for efficient estimation. Our results indicate that even though the women left behind enjoy greater ownership of assets, there is no improvement in their decision-making authority over productive utilization of those resources. This also raises concerns over long-term persistency of increased asset ownership. However, we do find the women to experience a better status within the household, facing lower domestic abuse in the absence of their husbands from other household members. Finally, male out-migration also significantly improves women’s control over minor household expenditures and freedom of physical mobility, by providing an opportunity to explore and realize their own potential for empowerment in an otherwise dominant patriarchal society.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

39,95 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)

References

  • Acosta, P. (2011). School attendance, child labour, and remittances from international migration in El Salvador. Journal of Development Studies, 47(6), 913–936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams Jr., R. H., & Page, J. (2005). Do international migration and remittances reduce poverty in developing countries? World Development, 33(10), 1645–1669.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, A. (2013). Bangladesh integrated household survey (BIHS) 2011-2012, V4 . Harvard Dataverse. Retrieved Nov 01, 2018, from https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/OR6MHT.

  • Aizer, A. (2010). The gender wage gap and domestic violence. American Economic Review, 100(4), 1847–1859.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alderman, H., Chiappori, P. A., Haddad, L., Hoddinott, J., & Kanbur, R. (1995). Unitary versus collective models of the household: is it time to shift the burden of proof? The World Bank Research Observer, 10(1), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alkire, S. (2008). Concepts of measures and agency. In K. Basu & R. Kanbur (Eds.), Arguments for a better world: essays in honor of Amartya Sen. Vol. 1, ethics, welfare, and measurement (pp. 455–474). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alkire, S., Meinzen-Dick, R., Peterman, A., Quisumbing, A., Seymour, G., & Vaz, A. (2013). The women’s empowerment in agriculture index. World Development, 52, 71–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alsop, R., Bertelsen, M. F., & Holland, J. (2005). Empowerment in practice: from analysis to implementation . Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

  • Anderson, S., & Eswaran, M. (2009). What determines female autonomy? Evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Development Economics, 90(2), 179–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antman, F. M. (2011). The intergenerational effects of paternal migration on schooling and work:what can we learn from children's time allocations? Journal of Development Economics, 96(2), 200–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antman, F. M. (2012). Gender, educational attainment, and the impact of parental migration on children left behind. Journal of Population Economics, 25(4), 1187–1214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antman, F.M. (2013). The impact of migration on family left behind. In International handbook on the economics of migration (pp. 293). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

  • Baum, C. F. (2013). Implementing new econometric tools in Stata. Mexican Stata Users’ Group Meetings , 9.

  • Becker, G. S. (1981). A treatise on the family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, S. (1999). Measuring unmet need: wives, husbands or couples? International Family Planning Perspectives, 25(4), 172–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, E. (2012). Themes from Feed the Future Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index: Report from Qualitative Case Studies in Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Uganda. Unpublished report submitted to the International Food Policy Research Institute , Washington, D.C.: IFPRI.

  • Bontemps, C., & Nauges, C. (2015). The impact of perceptions in averting-decision models: An application of the special regressor method to drinking water choices. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 98(1), 297-313.

  • Cabegin, E.C., (2006). The effect of Filipino overseas migration on the non-migrant spouse's market participation and labor supply behavior, IZA Discussion Papers, No. 2240, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn.

  • Cain, M., Khanam, S. R., & Nahar, S. (1979). Class, patriarchy, and women’s work in Bangladesh. Population and Development Review, 5(3), 405–438.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caliendo, M., & Kopeinig, S. (2005). Some practical guidance for the implementation of Propensity Score Matching. Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor Discussion Paper,(1588).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X., Huang, Q., Rozelle, S., Shi, Y., & Zhang, L. (2009). Effect of migration on children’s educational performance in rural China. Comparative Economic Studies, 51(3), 323–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox-Edwards, A., & Rodríguez-Oreggia, E. (2009). Remittances and labor force participation in Mexico: an analysis using propensity score matching. World Development, 37(5), 1004–1014.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Haas, H., & Van Rooij, A. (2010). Migration as emancipation? The impact of internal and international migration on the position of women left behind in rural Morocco. Oxford Development Studies, 38(1), 43–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, S., & Banerji, M. (2008). Negotiated identities: male migration and left-behind wives in India. Journal of Population Research, 25(3), 337–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fakir, A. M., Anjum, A., Bushra, F., & Nawar, N. (2016). The endogeneity of domestic violence: Understanding women empowerment through autonomy. World development perspectives, 2, 34–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fargues, P. (2006). The demographic benefit of international migration: hypothesis and application to the Middle Eastern and North African contexts .Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

  • Gibson, J., McKenzie, D., Rohorua, H., & Stillman, S. (2017). The long-term impacts of international migration: evidence from a lottery. The World Bank Economic Review, 32(1), 127–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goetz, A. M., & Gupta, R. S. (1996). Who takes the credit? Gender, power, and control over loan use in rural credit programs in Bangladesh. World Development, 24(1), 45–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M. J. (1975). Research on internal migration in the United States: a survey. Journal of Economic Literature, 13(2), 397–433.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigorian, D. A., & Melkonyan, T. A. (2011). Destined to receive: the impact of remittances on household decisions in Armenia. Review of Development Economics, 15(1), 139–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gulati, L. (1992). Migration and social change in India. Asian Migrant, 5(4), 124–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haddad, L., Hoddinott, J., & Alderman, H. (1997). Intrahousehold resource allocation in developing countries: models, methods, and policy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press for the International Food Policy Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadi, A. (2001). International migration and the change of women’s position among the left-behind in rural Bangladesh. International Journal of Population Geography, 7(1), 53–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ham, J. C., Lib, X., and Reaganc, P. B. (2005). Propensity score matching, a distance-based measure of migration, and the wages of young men.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanmer, L., & Klugman, J. (2016). Exploring women’s agency and empowerment in developing countries: where do we stand? Feminist Economics, 22(1), 237–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, G. H., and Woodruff, C. (2003). Emigration and educational attainment in Mexico. Mimeo., University of California at San Diego. Retrieved Nov 15,2019, fromhttps://economics.ucr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/03-05-04Gordon-Hanson.pdf

  • Hashemi, S. M., Schuler, S. R., & Riley, A. P. (1996). Rural credit programs and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. World Development, 24(4), 635–653.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. J. (1979). Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica, 47, 153–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J. J., Ichimura, H., & Todd, P. E. (1997). Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator: evidence from evaluating a job training programme. The Review of Economic Studies, 64(4), 605–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoddinott, J. (1994). A model of migration and remittances applied to Western Kenya. Oxford Economic Papers, 46(3), 459–476.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugo, G. (2002). Effects of international migration on the family in Indonesia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 11(1), 13–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibrahim, S., & Alkire, S. (2007). Agency and empowerment: a proposal for internationally comparable indicators. Oxford Development Studies, 35(4), 379–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jejeebhoy, S. J. (2000). Women’s autonomy in rural India: its dimensions, determinants, and the influence of context. In H. Presser & G. Sen (Eds.), Women’s empowerment and demographic processes: moving beyond Cairo. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jimenez-Soto, E. V., & Brown, R. P. (2012). Assessing the poverty impacts of migrants’ remittances using propensity score matching: the case of Tonga. Economic Record, 88(282), 425–439.

  • Jolly, S., Bell, E., and Narayanaswamy, L. (2003). Gender and migration in Asia: overview and annotated bibliography. BRIDGE. Retrieved Nov 15, 2019, from http://www.ids.ac.uk/bridge

  • Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: reflections on the measurement of women's empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (2001). Conflicts over credit: reevaluating the empowerment potential of loans to women in rural Bangladesh. World Development, 29(1), 63–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N. (2005). Gender equality and women's empowerment: a critical analysis of the third millennium development goal 1. Gender and Development, 13(1), 13–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabeer, N., Ragui, A., Akosua, D., Simeen, M., Hania, S., Sakiba, T., & Dzodzi, T. (2013). Paid work, women‘s empowerment, and inclusive growth: transforming the structures of constraint. New York: UN Women.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kandel, W., & Kao, G. (2001). The impact of temporary labor migration on Mexican children’s educational aspirations and performance. International Migration Review, 35(4), 1205–1231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaspar, H. (2006). “I am the head of the household now”: the impacts of outmigration for labour on gender hierarchies in Nepal. In Gender and Sustainable Development (pp. 285-303). Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 2. Bern:Geographica Bernensia.

  • Khaled, L. (1995). Migration and women’s status: the Jordan case (Vol. 33(2), p. 235). International migration, Geneva, Switzerland.

  • Kim, N. (2007). The impact of remittances on labor supply: the case of Jamaica . Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

  • King, R., Dalipaj, M., & Mai, N. (2006). Gendering migration and remittances: evidence from London and northern Albania. Population, Space and Place, 12(6), 409–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kishor, S. (2000). Women’s contraceptive use in Egypt: what do direct measures of empowerment tell us?. In Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (pp. 23-25). Los Angeles: PAA.

  • Kuhn, R. S. (2005). The Determinants of Family and Individual Migration: A Case-Study of Rural Bangladesh. Unpublished manuscript, Working Paper No. PAC2004-04. Research Program on Population Processes, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder.

  • Kuhn, R. S. (2006). The effects of fathers’ and siblings’ migration on children’s pace of schooling in rural Bangladesh. Asian Population Studies, 2(1), 69–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lokshin, M., & Glinskaya, E. (2009). The effect of male migration on employment patterns of women in Nepal. The World Bank Economic Review, 23(3), 481–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Cordoba, E. (2004). Globalization, Migration and Development: The role of Mexican Migrant Remittances. Washington: Inter-American Development Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maharjan, A., Bauer, S., & Knerr, B. (2012). Do rural women who stay behind benefit from male out-migration? A case study in the hills of Nepal. Gender, Technology and Development, 16(1), 95–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmud, S. (2003). Actually how empowering is microcredit? Development and Change, 34(4), 577–605.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmud, S., Shah, N. M., & Becker, S. (2012). Measurement of women’s empowerment in rural Bangladesh. World Development, 40(3), 610–619.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malhotra, A., & Schuler, S. R. (2005). Women’s empowerment as a variable in international development. Measuring empowerment: Cross-disciplinary perspectives, 1(1), 71–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendola, M., & Carletto, C. (2012). Migration and gender differences in the home labour market: evidence from Albania. Labour Economics, 19(6), 870–880.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menjívar, C., & Agadjanian, V. (2007). Men’s migration and women’s lives: views from rural Armenia and Guatemala. Social Science Quarterly, 88(5), 1243–1262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, V., & Shariff, A. (2011). Preliminary evidence on internal migration, remittances, and teen schooling in India. Contemporary Economic Policy, 29(2), 207–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nabi, A. N. (1992). Dynamics of internal migration in Bangladesh. Canadian Studies in Population, 19(1), 81–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narayan, D. (2002). Empowerment and poverty reduction. Washington, DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narayan, D. (2005). Measuring empowerment: cross-disciplinary perspectives. Washington, DC: World Bank.

  • Paris, T., Singh, A., Luis, J., & Hossain, M. (2005). Labour outmigration, livelihood of rice farming households and women left behind: a case study in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Economic and political weekly , 40(25), 2522–2529.

  • Parrenas, R. S. (2005). Children of global migration: transnational families and gendered woes. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitt, M. M., & Khandker, S. R. (1996). Household and intrahousehold impact of the Grameen Bank and similar targeted credit programs in Bangladesh .Washington, DC: World Bank.

  • Pribilsky, J. (2004). ‘Aprendemos A Convivir’: Conjugal relations, co-parenting, and family life among Ecuadorian transnational migrants in New York and the Ecuadorian Andes. Global Networks, 4(3), 313–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quisumbing, A., Roy, S., Njuki, J., Tanvin, K., & Waithanji, E. (2013). Can dairy value chain projects change gender norms in rural Bangladesh? Impacts on assets, gender norms, and time use. Discussion paper no. 1311. Washington, DC: International food policy research institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quisumbing, A. R., & Maluccio, J. A. (2003). Resources at marriage and intrahousehold allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics , 65(3), 283-327.

  • Rao, N. (2012). Breadwinners and homemakers: migration and changing conjugal expectations in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Development Studies, 48(1), 26–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravallion, M. (2007). Evaluating anti-poverty programs. Handbook of Development Economics, 4, 3787–3846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Root, B. D., & De Jong, G. F. (1991). Family migration in a developing country. Population Studies, 45(2), 221–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1), 41–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadiqi, F., & Ennaji, M. (2004). The impact of male migration from Morocco to Europe on women: A Gender Approach. Finisterra, 39(77), 59-76.

  • Sander, N., Abel, G. J., & Bauer, R. (2014). The global flow of people. Washington Center for Demography and Global Human Capital and Vienna Institute of Demography. Retrieved Nov 15, 2019, from https://www.global-migration.info

  • Sen, A. (1989). Cooperation, inequality, and the family. Population and Development Review, 15, 61–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, R. (2018). Impact of male out-migration on women left behind: a study of two villages in Uttar Pradesh. Remittances Review, 3(1), 75–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, B., Jha, S., & Negi, N. S. (2012). Migration and empowerment: the experience of women in households in India where migration of a husband has occurred. Journal of Gender Studies, 21(1), 61–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sraboni, E., Malapit, H. J., Quisumbing, A. R., & Ahmed, A. U. (2014). Women’s empowerment in agriculture: what role for food security in Bangladesh? World Development, 61, 11–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, F., Amin, S. and Naved, R.T. (1998). The impact of an integrated micro-credit programme on women's empowerment and fertility behavior in rural Bangladesh. Policy Research Division Working Paper no. 115. New York: Population Council.

  • Steele, F., Amin, S. and Naved, R.T., 1998. The impact of an integrated micro-credit programme on women’s empowerment and fertility behavior in rural Bangladesh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, M. J., Moran-Taylor, M. J., & Ruiz, D. R. (2006). Land, ethnic, and gender change: transnational migration and its effects on Guatemalan lives and landscapes. Geoforum, 37(1), 41–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thieme, S., & Wyss, S. (2005). Migration patterns and remittance transfer in Nepal: a case study of Sainik Basti in western Nepal. International Migration, 43(5), 59–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2018). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision. Retrieved Nov 15, 2019, from https://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Country-Profiles/

  • Xiaoyun, L., Qiang, D., Xiaoqian, L., & Jie, W. (2008). Gender inequality and poverty in asset ownership. Chinese Sociology & Anthropology, 40(4), 49–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yabiku, S. T., Agadjanian, V., & Sevoyan, A. (2010). Husbands’ labour migration and wives’ autonomy, Mozambique 2000–2006. Population Studies, 64(3), 293–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamanaka, K. (2000). Nepalese labour migration to Japan: from global warriors to global workers. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23(1), 62–93.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our gratitude to Prof. Anu Rammohan, Dr. Ishita Chatterjee, Dr. Tushar Bharati, Prof. Sajjad Zohir, and Dr. Atonu Rabbani for their valuable feedback and conversations in guiding the study. Two anonymous reviewers made suggestions leading to substantial improvements of the final paper. We also extend our gratitude to Mr. Nuheen Khan of Economic Research Platform, North South University, for providing a platform to initiate stimulating conversations. This research was completed while Adnan M. S. Fakir was in receipt of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship at The University of Western Australia.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia

    Adnan M. S. Fakir

  2. BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Adnan M. S. Fakir

  3. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., USA

    Naveen Abedin

Authors
  1. Adnan M. S. Fakir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Naveen Abedin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naveen Abedin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(DOCX 32 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fakir, A.M.S., Abedin, N. Empowered by Absence: Does Male Out-migration Empower Female Household Heads Left Behind?. Int. Migration & Integration 22, 503–527 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00754-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00754-0

Keywords

  • Women's empowerment
  • Migration
  • Special regressor
  • Bangladesh

Search

Navigation