I am Woman and Man: Impact of Asian-Gulf Migrants on Left-Behind-Families: A comparative study of Bihar and Kerala in India

A comparative study of Bihar and Kerala in India

Abstract

This research study examines the changes in women’s decision-making roles and mobility due to their husband’s migration. These migrating men and their non-migrating women belong to societies where patriarchal structures are still in their rigidities as modernity has not yet penetrated to change the parochial mentality, especially towards assigning women’s roles in the community. Because of male migration and remittance inflows, power dynamics in household shifts, and wives play a dual role of a man and a woman, creating space for themselves by making everyday decisions, which gradually increases their autonomy and empowers them. To study the impact, fieldwork was conducted in two districts Siwan (Bihar) and Malappuram (Kerala) and sample households were interviewed. The results are consistent with the notion that educated wives enjoy more decision-making roles and mobility outside the community than less educated wives, who have fewer decision-making rights and less mobility with an increase in their daily chores and responsibilities. The study correspondingly intends to distinguish how wives of low-skilled and high-skilled workers perform and renegotiate their social roles.