Gender and migration from Albania

Abstract

This article examines the dynamics and causes of the shift in the gender composition of migration, and more particularly, in women's access to migration opportunities and decision-making. Our analysis focuses on Albania, a natural laboratory for studying international migration where out-migration was essentially nonexistent from the end of World War II to the end of the 1980s. Interest in the Albanian case is heightened because of the complex layers of inequality existing at the time when migration began: relatively low levels of inequality within the labor market and educational system-a product of the Communist era-while household relations remained heavily steeped in tradition and patriarchy. We use micro-level data from the Albania 2005 Living Standards Measurement Study, including migration histories for family members since migration began. Based on discrete-time hazard models, the analysis shows a dramatic increase in male migration and a gradual and uneven expansion of the female proportion of this international migration. Female migration, which is shown to be strongly associated with education, wealth, and social capital, appears responsive to economic incentives and constraints. Using information on the dependency of female migration to the household demographic structure as well as the sensitivity of female migration to household-level shocks, we show how household-level constraints and incentives affect male and female migration differently. Throughout this period, however, women's migration behavior appears more directly aligned with household-level factors, and there is little evidence to suggest that increased female migration signals rising behavioral independence among Albanian women.

Does indirect exposure to international migration influence marriage and fertility in Albania?

“…Initiated in a tumultuous period, emigration then followed a typical South-European pattern. The first waves were dominated by male workers, and were followed by a feminisation caused by increasing family reunifications since the end of the 1990s, at which time many illegal migrants were ''regularised'' in the main destination countries, Italy and Greece (Azzari and Carletto 2009;Stecklov et al 2010). The number of Albanians abroad was equivalent to a third of the resident population in 2009 (Kupiszewski et al 2009).…”

International Migration Decision-Making and Destination Selection Among Skilled Migrants

“…The problem is that household theories of migration consider a household to be composed of actors with equal power and agreed aims, though this is quite often not the case, especially in cultures where women have less power than men in the family decisionmaking (de Haas & Fokkema, 2010;Gubhaju & De Jong, 2009;Hoang, 2011;Stecklov, Carletto, Azzarri, & Davis, 2010).…”

Measures for Human Reproduction Should Be Linked to Both Men and Women

“…Causes include sex-selective migration [34,35] which affect sex ratios in both sending and receiving countries [20], wars [36], or the consequences of natural catastrophes [37]. Birth control and abortion have also affected sex ratios for many [38] and the impact is particularly strong in Asia in recent years [20,39].…”