Marital Unions, Men's Migration, and Turbulent Trajectories: Connecting Migration–Marriage Sequences to Non-migrating Women’s Well-Being

• In Event: Aging and the Life Course Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 5: Marital Formation and Dissolution

Abstract

Male labor migration is a common livelihood strategy in low- and middle-income countries, but it has com-
plex implications for family well-being. This study conceptualizes married men’s migration as a dynamic process
that exposes marriages to fluctuating economic risks and social tensions. Using detailed migration and marital
histories from a longitudinal survey panel conducted in rural Mozambique, we examine the interlinked trajecto-
ries of rural women’s marital status and their husbands’ migration patterns and examines how these trajectories
shape the socioeconomic well-being of left-behind wives. The current sequence analyses results identify four
distinct joint trajectories of migration and marriage, ranging from stable non-migrant unions to turbulent pat-
terns marked by frequent marital transitions and partner mobility. The complete paper will also use regression
analyses to investigate how women’s experiences across different trajectories are associated with later stage
socioeconomic outcomes, including their employment and earnings and their household living conditions

Authors

• Yanji Du, University of California-Los Angeles

• Wesley Wang, Purdue University

• Victor Agadjanian, University of California - Los Angeles