Patterned remittances enhance women's health-related autonomy.

Sharon H Green,Swethaa S Ballakrishnen,Hannah Brueckner,Peter Bearman,Charlotte Wang

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100370

Sharon H Green, Swethaa S Ballakrishnen + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100370

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Abstract

The consequences for women “left behind” by virtue of temporary male migration are mixed. On the one hand, concomitant changes in fertility, participation in the labor force, and social norms are often associated with increased independence for women. On the other hand, women left behind can be vulnerable to increased dependency on members of their husbands' family or face limited access to social institutions. These shifts in women's capacity for decision making can have important implications for their health and well-being. Focusing on the state of Kerala in southern India, we examine the conditions under which the remittances that migrants send home have an impact on the health of women left behind. Specifically, we assess the extent to which the timing of remittance sending can support women's autonomy and improve their ability to make autonomous healthcare decisions. We use evidence from migrant households in Kerala, a region deeply engrained in the world labor migration system for more than five decades. Analysis is conducted with data from the 2016 wave of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS), a representative household survey, and paired with in-depth qualitative interviews with women in Kerala whose husbands and other family members have migrated to the Gulf. We show that the positive effect of remittances on women's autonomy manifests primarily through the timing of remittance receipt, not the amount of money remitted. Regular remittances are associated with higher levels of autonomy than remittances received at irregular intervals, net of amount remitted. This finding challenges the usual emphasis on remittance volume as the driving factor of social and behavioral change in sending communities. Analytical efforts should be refocused on the social-interactional component of remittance sending and how these interactions can impact women's health and autonomy.

Highlights

This article considers the conditions under which temporary migra tion of a primarily male workforce is beneficial to women's autonomy, a crucial determinant of women's health
Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded after ano nymization, and are stored in a secure location. We pair these narratives with statistical analysis, using data from the 2016 wave of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS), a representative longitudinal household survey conducted in Kerala
Our analysis suggests that migrant remittance sending can impact sending communities by boosting household wealth and eco nomic development and through its effects on the health autonomy of those left behind

Summary

Introduction

This article considers the conditions under which temporary migra tion of a primarily male workforce is beneficial to women's autonomy, a crucial determinant of women's health. Temporary male migration in search of work is a characteristic feature of many developing countries. Male migration can indirectly lead to greater independence for women left behind through a host of economic and social changes “remitted” back to sending com munities, and remitted wages can directly support higher quality of life overall (Adger, Kelly, Winkels, Huy, & Locke, 2002; Yabiku, Agadjanian, & Sevoyan, 2010). Women left behind can be vulnerable to the challenges that come with an absent male head of household, such as dependence on their in-laws or difficulty accessing loans (Datta & Mis hra, 2011; Leno€el, 2017). Remittances can be unreliable sources of income, leaving families in situations of financial precarity (Lu, 2012; Wells, Lyn, Mclaughlin, & Díaz Mendiburo, 2014)

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