1 Studied by: Pham Thi Ha Phuong Instructed by: Dr. Kyoko Kusakabe GENDER DIMENSION IN CIRCULAR MIGRATION, THE CASE OF NINH BINH, VIETNAM The 4 th AIT Masters Theses Competition ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY The 4 th AIT Masters Theses Competition ASIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

2 Map 1: Study area Thach Binh commune – Ninh Binh province (area of origin)

3 Concept of “Circular Migration” “Circular migration” as used in this thesis: maintaining two “homes” – in both place of origin (“true home”) and place of destination (“home”, e.g., in urban area) Different from permanent one-way migration Different from other forms of temporary migration

4 Circular migrants Place of Destination Pull factors: job opportunities& extra income; etc. Push factors: Unable to settle down & access to social welfare in the cities due to urbanization controlling policies & migration limiting policies Gender Dimension: Gender differences in employments; gender discrimination in labour market, etc. Gender Dimension: Gender differentiated expectations, gender roles in households, social conceptions, etc. Problem Statement Place of an origin -Push factors: Lack of capital, employment, etc. Pull factors: Family responsibilities, rural livelihoods, social welfare and social services, etc.

5 What are the reasons of women and men to become circular migrants? How are circular migrants’ working and living conditions in places of destination? What is the pattern of circular migration of female and male migrants? How does the pattern affect circular migrants in terms of their health and employment? Research Questions

6 6th Step 1 st Step Semi-structured Interviews (98 migrant workers) Select 20 key respondents from these 98 respondents for in-depth interviews of 2 nd step In-depth Interviews (20 key selected respondents) Select one member of 20 key respondent’s families for 3 rd step Semi-structured Interviews (20 selected household members) Select 6 key respondents from these 20 household members for in-depth interviews in 4th step In-depth Interviews (6 selected household members) 2 nd Step 3 rd Step 4 th Step 5 th Step Group Discussion (4 groups) - 1group with 6 male migrants - 1group with 6 female migrants - 1 group with 4 male and 4 female migrants - 1 group with 4 male and 4 female household members Key Informant Interviews - 1 head of commune - 1 government official - 2 employers in destinations Primary Data Collecting Process

7 Table 1: Circular Pattern of Migration PATTERNS OF CIRCULAR MIGRATION Source: Survey data. N = 98 *: out of total number of female migrants **: out of total number of male migrants

8 Reasons for out-migrating Push factors of place of origin Pull factors of place of destination Reasons for returning home Pull factors of place of origin Push factors of place of destination REASONS FOR CIRCULAR MIGRATION

9 Push factor Female migrants*Male migrantsMigrants (in general) Number% %**Number%*** Rice deficiency 3075%4679%7678% Low income 1845%1628%3435% Underemploy ment %5493%8991% Source: Survey data. N = 98 (Multiple choices) *: Percentage out of total number of surveyed female migrants **: Percentage out of total number of surveyed male migrants ***: Percentage out of total number of surveyed migrants Table 2: Push factors of origin place leading to out-migration in Thach Binh REASONS FOR OUT MIGRATING (Push Factors)

10 Table 3: Pull factors of destinations with migrants 100%98100%58100 % 40Economic factor 2.6%20%05%2Marital reason 8%67%45%2City attraction %***Number%**Number%*Number Migrants (in general) Male migrantsFemale migrants Pull factor Source: Survey data. N = 98 (multiple choices) *: Percentage out of total number of surveyed female migrants **: Percentage out of total number of surveyed male migrants ***: Percentage out of total number of surveyed migrants REASONS FOR OUT-MIGRATING (Pull Factors)

11 Reasons for out-migrating Push factors of origin place Rice deficiency Low income Underemployment Pull factors of destination place City attraction Marital reason Economic factors Reasons for returning home Pull factors of origin place Agricultural work Family visit, being homesick Lunar New Year Family affairs (Family emergency, wedding, funeral) Expectations from people left behind Push factors of destination place Hard working and living conditions in destination place REASONS FOR CIRCULAR MIGRATION

12 Table 4: Reasons for returning home REASONS FOR RETURNING HOME Source: Survey data. N = 98 *: out of total number of female migrants **: out of total number of male migrants ***: out of total number of migrants

13 Reasons for out-migrating Push factors of origin place Rice deficiency Low income Underemployment Pull factors of destination place City attraction Marital reason Economic factors Reasons for returning home Pull factors of origin place Agricultural work Family visit, being homesick Lunar New Year Family affairs (Family emergency, wedding, funeral) Expectations of people left behind Push factors of destination place Hard working and living conditions in destination place REASONS FOR CIRCULAR MIGRATION

14 I reluctantly let my wife work in Hanoi because in recent years, my health has been getting worse. I got problem with my legs so that I could not work too hard. Though she goes back home every month, I still feel it’s very difficult to undertake her role in our family. There are a lot of things I cannot do as well as her. Whenever she is back, she tidies up our house, does the washing, checks my children’s studies, etc. Everything looks totally different when she’s gone. (Canh, a 59-year-old-male-non-migrant-respondent) Interviews, October 2009

15 Table 5: Considerations of circular migrants in job selection CONSIDERATIONS OF JOB SELECTION Source: Survey data. N = 98 (multiple choices)

16 Table 6: Employments of circular migrants CONSIDERATIONS OF JOB SELECTION Source: Survey data. N = 98

17 Studied area is represented by yellow star South provinces and Northwest provinces are represented by red circles. Map 2: Places of destination of circular migrant respondents Close places of destination are represented by blue circles

18 Reasons for out-migrating Push factors of origin place Rice deficiency Low income Underemployment Pull factors of destination place City attraction Marital reason Economic factors Reasons for returning home Pull factors of origin place Agricultural work Family visit, being homesick Lunar New Year Family affairs (Family emergency, wedding, funeral) Expectations of people left behind Push factors of destination place Hard working and living conditions in place of destination REASONS FOR CIRCULAR MIGRATION

19

20

21 Table 7: Comparison between average monthly income and saving of surveyed circular migrants Income and Saving Source: Survey data. N = 98

22 Difficult working conditions Hired migrant workers (majority are male migrants) Self-employed migrants (majority are female migrants) Difficult living conditions Economize living expenses for money saving: cheap hostels, cheap foods, cut down spending as much as possible Being limited with social welfare in destination Being discriminated against by urban people  Hard working and low living conditions reinforce the desire of going back home LIFE IN THE DESTINATIONS Working and Living Conditions

23 Health: Exhaustion, other problems of circular traveling Bad quality of transportation vehicles Employments Discriminations of labour market against circular migrants Circular pattern of migration diminishes migrants’ income PATTERN REGARDING IMPACTS OF RETURNING HOME

24 1. Circular migrants appear as one of the most vulnerable people. Circular pattern of migration causes bad influence in terms of health and employment on migrants themselves 2. Gender differentiated patterns of circular migration are created by: 1. Gender based differences in job selecting considerations; 2. Characteristics of women and men’s employments; 3. Expectations of people left behind put on migrant workers. 3. Women return back more frequently than men because of pressure from home to go back home more often 4. Because of this pattern of circular migration, women tend to migrate in nearby provinces, and be in occupation that is more flexible CONCLUSIONS

25 5. Up to now, government policies have not seriously concerned about migrants’ lives in order to lighten their vulnerabilities (vs. idea of circular migration as having clear benefits for both places of origin and destination – more complicated than this) 6. Promoting circular migration needs to be done carefully, especially with women migrants; must take into consideration their lives in place of destination as well as origin CONCLUSIONS

26 1. Poverty eliminating projects which target to poverty rural habitants should be planned comprehensively 2. Male rural habitants should also be included in poverty eliminating projects (as well as women) 3. Social welfare for migrants in destination is very important and needs to be considered carefully. CONCLUSIONS Recommendations

27 This research attempts to fill the knowledge gap about circular migration in Vietnam in order to contribute to lighten the vulnerability for circular migrants, especially circular female migrants. Further studies recommended: Impacts of Vietnam economic recession on circular migrants Impacts of circular migration on people left behind CONCLUSIONS

28