Marriage and employment patterns amongst UK-raised Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi women

Abstract

Discussion over marriage migration in the UK has largely focused on the South Asian groups, identified in survey data as Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi. This paper uses qualitative interviews and national Labour Force Survey data to gain some insights into how UK-born Pakistani and Bangladeshi women view marriage and, in particular, marriage to a partner from their country of origin; the extent to which UK-born Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi women and men marry partners from overseas and the key factors that influence this; and the effect on the level of economic activity for Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi women of marriage to a UK-born/raised partner versus a partner from overseas.

Why does fertility remain high among certain UK-born ethnic minority women?

“…The prevalence of ethnically homogamous marriages may sustain high fertility. In the UK, high fertility may be further supported by the fact that some spouses of UK-born ethnic minority women are immigrants from the same countries as their parents, where fertility has recently declined but remains high (Dale and Ahmed 2011). The main reason why this study did not include spouse's country of birth as an explanatory variable was the lack of heterogeneity.…”

Women’s narratives of economic abuse and financial strategies in Britain and South Asia.

“…For example, being British-born as opposed to being a South Asian women's narratives of economic abuse 5 migrant has the biggest impact on a South Asian woman's likelihood of being employed (Dale & Ahmed, 2011). Further, there is considerable difference in employment rates for Pakistani and Indian women in Britain.…”

Transnational Marriages and Second-Generation Women’s Employment

“…The study adds qualitative understandings to the quantitative findings that transnational marriages do not seem to hinder second-generation women's employment (Brekke & Rogstad 2011;Dale & Ahmed 2011) and shows that the interaction between transnational marriages and women's employment is mediated by the women's ambitions and access to employment, structures of social support that affect the spouses' decision-making power, and the family's economic situation. The migration inherent in transnational marriages among the second generation can shape the conditions for the families' work decisions in ways that rather than counteracting the "integration" of second-generation women can strengthen their participation in the labour market.…”

“…When researching how transnational marriages affect employment among British-Pakistani women, Dale & Ahmed (2011) emphasise the importance of qualifications. Their quantitative study demonstrates that qualifications are more important in explaining the UK-raised women's attachment to paid work than whether or not they have married transnationally.…”

“…Thus, one can expect that marrying a man from Pakistan has a negative effect on the employment prospects of the second-generation wife. Yet, large-scale quantitative studies in Britain and Norway find that the husband's background -whether an immigrant or born in Britain/Norway -does not affect the secondgeneration wife's attachment to paid work (Brekke & Rogstad 2011;Dale & Ahmed 2011).…”