The Female Face of Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper examines the female face of migration in sub-Saharan Africa. In the last two decades, there has been an increasing amount of research on feminization of migration, which has begun to fill the gap created by the earlier focus on male labour migration. Women in earlier migration research were seen as companions to men, passive non-decision-makers in the migration process. Currently, Sub-Saharan Africa market demand influences who migrates. The article seeks to put in perspective the recent developments in female migration and to readdress the question of stereotypical female migrants. To understand the dynamics of these female migrations, the paper focuses on causes and changing configurations of emerging female migratory flows. More women are now migrating independently and as main income-earners instead of following male relatives. Further, women’s migration experiences often differ significantly from men’s. Female migrants are disproportionately young and single. There is less availability of work for women. Women particularly the younger ones from rural areas are migrating to work as domestics. Service jobs such as domestic work, child care, elder care, health care, are female-coded jobs in sub-Saharan Africa. Their wages are low and not subject to regular laws of supply and demand. The majorities are clustered in certain types of industry – particularly manufacturing and empirical evidence seems to indicate that some move into this sector from the domestic service and the informal sector. Women migrants are found to have more social and economic ties to places of origin. The paper suggests that Sub-Saharan African governments should pursue policies that empower migrant women, promote pro-poor employment strategies that favour informal and formal labour markets and those which take into account women’s changing role in migratory flows and reflect the needs and priorities of migrant women.