Assessing evidence for the “Feminization of Migration” in a rural-origin young adult cohort in South Africa

• In Event: 20825 - Assessing the Causes and Consequences of Internal Migration

Abstract

A recent in review in Population and Development Review by Anastasiadou et al. (2024) on gender differences in migration processes points to two facts relevant to this study: a) that there is not strong empirical evidence of ‘feminization’ in the current literature on migration and gender, and b) that the literature on gendered internal migration processes is sparse. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of gendered internal migration processes using longitudinal sociodemographic and health data from a young adult cohort of rural-urban migrants, and rural residents in South Africa. We ask the following questions: 1. Are there gender differences in the propensity to migrate internally in this LMIC context? 2. Are there gender differences in type of internal migration undertaken (short vs. long distance; continuous vs. circular) among migrants? 3. What are the determinants of male versus female migration? 4. Are the determinants of migration different for younger age cohorts compared with older ones, and is there a gender differential in this variation? We use four waves of data (2018-2022) from the Migrant Health Follow-Up Study (MHFUS), a longitudinal cohort study of young adults nested within the Agincourt Health and Socio-demographic Surveillance Site located in rural northeast South Africa. Our sample consists of the 1,747 participants in the study who are residents of the AHDSS in Wave 1 (non-migrants), for whom we have demographic and pre-migration socioeconomic, household, and health information at baseline. We conduct pooled and sex-stratified logistic regressions predicting migration and migration type from pre-migration characteristics. We do not find evidence of ‘feminization’ but we do find important gender differences in the determinants of male and female migration.

Authors

• Chantel Ferreira Pheiffer, University of Massachusetts Boston

• Carren Ginsburg, Medical Research Council/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand

• Michael J. White, Brown University