Տղամարդկանց միգրացիան և կանանց զբաղվածությունը հայաստանյան գյուղական համայնքներում

Abstract

Several studies have shown that male migration is associated with decreased participation in paid labour force among women left behind. Typically these studies conclude that remittances received from migrant men, by boosting the household food and material security, often discourage women’s gainful employment, especially where the contribution of such employment to household income is trivial. However, there is also evidence of a positive effect of men’s migration on non-migrant women’s employment, but this positive effect is largely confined to urban areas, where job opportunities for women are more abundant. Some studies suggest that male labour migration from rural areas may also result in women’s increased involvement in agriculture and animal husbandry, to replace migrants’ labour and to keep household assets, such as land and livestock, fully utilized. Along with increased household chores and child-care responsibilities during the husband’s absence, additional labour in subsistence agriculture may add stress to the everyday life and wellbeing of the women left behind and other members of the household. However, it has been argued that the increased labour and responsibilities in the household contribute to women’s empowerment in the areas of origin by increasing their decision-making power and status in the household. Using data from 1040 household interviews conducted in Ararat and Tavush in 2005 and 1240 interviews conducted in Gegharkunik in 2007, we study the effect of male migration on women’s outside-the-home labour force participation and their involvement in subsistence agriculture. Employing random intercept logistic regression analysis for binary outcomes we test the association of husband’s migration with wife’s employment outside of the household, controlling for background - 108 - socio-demographic factors. To study the effect of male seasonal migration on women’s involvement in subsistence agriculture, we employ random intercept negative binomial regression, where the outcome is the average number of hours spent on working in the field and tending animals. The results show that having a migrant husband is associated with 34 percent lower odds of being employed than having a non-migrant husband (p<0.01), controlling for other factors. The results of the negative binomial regression show that being married to a migrant husband has a negative effect on the number of hours spent on agriculture and animal husbandry as well, controlling for other factors; however the effect is only marginally significant (p<0.1). While the results for women’s paid employment resonate with those of the cross-national literature, the same can not be said for the results on women’s involvement in agricultural activities. Unlike women in rural areas in other countries, women married to migrants in rural Armenia spend less time working in the field. While this means that these women may have a reduced workload, it also implies higher dependence on migrant remittances and lower status and independence in the household for them. Not only they are less likely to contribute to the household budget through paid employment, they are also less likely to contribute to household subsistence production, which may further reduce women’s bargaining power within a household with patriarchal values, undermine their status and impair their and their children’s wellbeing.