Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives
Experiences of left-behind family members of transnational migrant workers have been in the shadow of academic discourse on migration. To contribute to the slowly growing body of literature, this study explores the impact of male out-migration on left-behind wives. The study proposes and applies a n...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/2/80 |
| _version_ | 1827755443176341504 |
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| author | Saroj Koirala |
| author_facet | Saroj Koirala |
| author_sort | Saroj Koirala |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Experiences of left-behind family members of transnational migrant workers have been in the shadow of academic discourse on migration. To contribute to the slowly growing body of literature, this study explores the impact of male out-migration on left-behind wives. The study proposes and applies a novel framework to estimate Women Empowerment Index (WEI) for comparing the empowerment level across households with and without men in transnational labor. Cross-sectional surveys and unstructured interviews were used to collect data from 373 respondents from three selected areas in Nepal. Results indicate that left-behind wives experience a higher degree of decision-making authority, physical mobility, and involvement in socio-political spheres compared to women with husbands at home. However, left behind wives were found to experience increased unpaid workload and decreased access to information, together with emotional and psychological costs in the absence of their husbands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:09:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f43d84f75c0f4feaa589e381bc59031b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:09:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-f43d84f75c0f4feaa589e381bc59031b2023-11-16T23:16:11ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602023-02-011228010.3390/socsci12020080Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind WivesSaroj Koirala0Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Jyväskylä, 40014 Jyväskylä, FinlandExperiences of left-behind family members of transnational migrant workers have been in the shadow of academic discourse on migration. To contribute to the slowly growing body of literature, this study explores the impact of male out-migration on left-behind wives. The study proposes and applies a novel framework to estimate Women Empowerment Index (WEI) for comparing the empowerment level across households with and without men in transnational labor. Cross-sectional surveys and unstructured interviews were used to collect data from 373 respondents from three selected areas in Nepal. Results indicate that left-behind wives experience a higher degree of decision-making authority, physical mobility, and involvement in socio-political spheres compared to women with husbands at home. However, left behind wives were found to experience increased unpaid workload and decreased access to information, together with emotional and psychological costs in the absence of their husbands.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/2/80transnational labor migrationleft-behind womenmale out-migrationwomen empowerment indexNepal |
| spellingShingle | Saroj Koirala Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives Social Sciences transnational labor migration left-behind women male out-migration women empowerment index Nepal |
| title | Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives |
| title_full | Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives |
| title_fullStr | Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives |
| title_short | Empowering Absence? Assessing the Impact of Transnational Male Out-Migration on Left behind Wives |
| title_sort | empowering absence assessing the impact of transnational male out migration on left behind wives |
| topic | transnational labor migration left-behind women male out-migration women empowerment index Nepal |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/2/80 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sarojkoirala empoweringabsenceassessingtheimpactoftransnationalmaleoutmigrationonleftbehindwives |