Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Migraciones Internacionales e-ISSN: 2594-0279

Papers

Vol. 16 (2025): January-December, 2025

Care Work as a Determinant of Women’s Non-Migration

DOI
https://doi.org/10.33679/rmi.v1i1.3133
Published
2025-10-15

Abstract

International migration offers benefits for women. However, the feminization of care work, driven by gender social norms, acts as a barrier to their mobility. The paper analyzes how caregiving responsibilities in households with male migration in Mexico limit women’s ability to migrate. Using a quantitative approach, it applies a probit model with instrumental variable regression and data from ENADID 2023 to assess the impact of caregiving on female mobility. Factors such as marital status, age, ethnicity, income, access to health services, and working conditions are considered. The results show that feminization of care work, deeply rooted in gender norms, restricts women’s probability of migration. This study contributes to the literature on “women who are left behind” in international migration from a care perspective.

Keywords

  • Migration
  • women and development
  • family environment
  • gender division of labor
  • Mexico

How to Cite

NEME CASTILLO, O., Valderrama Santibáñez, A. L., Ledesma García, A. B. ., & Abundis López, H. (2025). Care Work as a Determinant of Women’s Non-Migration. Migraciones Internacionales, 16. https://doi.org/10.33679/rmi.v1i1.3133

Copyright (c) 2025 Migraciones Internacionales

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Adato, M. y Bassett, L. (2009). Social protection to support vulnerable children and families: The potential of cash transfers to protect education, health and nutrition. AIDS Care, 21(sup. 1), 60-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540120903112351
  2. Agadjanian, V., Nedoluzhko, L. y Kumskov, G. (2008). Eager to leave? Intentions to migrate abroad among young people in Kyrgyzstan. International Migration Review, 42(3), 620-651.
  3. Aguila, E., Lee, Z. y Wong, R. (2023). Migration, work, and retirement: The case of Mexican-origin populations. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance, 22(2), 167-187. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474747221000342
  4. Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
  5. Anastasiadou, A., Kim, J., Sanlitürk, E., De Valk, H. y Zagheni, E. (2024). Gender Differences in the Migration Process: A Narrative Literature Review. Population and Development Review, 50(4), 961-996. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12677
  6. Aslany, M., Carling, J., Mjelva, M. y Sommerfelt, T. (2021). Systematic review of determinants of migration aspirations. University of Southampton.
  7. Bachan, B. y De Jong, G. (2018). Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender and Marital Status Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South Africa. International Migration, 47(1), 31-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2008.00496.x
  8. Barber, S. y Gertler, P. (2010). Empowering women: how Mexico’s conditional cash transfer program raised prenatal care quality and birth weight. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 2(1), 51-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439341003592630
  9. Belloni, M. (2019). Breaking free from tradition: Women, national service and migration in Eritrea. Migration Letters, 16(4), 491-501.
  10. Bertoli, S., Gautrain, E. y Murard, E. (2023). Left behind, but not immobile: Living arrangements of Mexican transnational households. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 71(4), 1359-1395.
  11. Bodvarsson, O. y Van den Berg, H. (2013). The economics of immigration. Springer.
  12. Bonasia, M. y Napolitano, O. (2012). Determinants of interregional migration flows: The role of environmental factors in the Italian case. The Manchester School, 80(4), 525-544. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2012.02300.x
  13. Boneva, B. y Frieze, I. (2001). Toward a concept of a migrant personality. Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 477-491.
  14. Canudas, V. (2004). Moving north: Different factors influencing male and female Mexican migration to United States. Papeles de Población, 10(39), 9-35.
  15. Carling, J. (2022). Migration in the age of involuntary immobility: Theoretical reflections and Cape Verdean experiences. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 28(1), 5-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830120103912
  16. Cerise, S., Francavilla, F., Loiseau, E. y Tuccio, M. (2013). Why discriminatory social institutions affecting adolescent girls matter [Issues Paper]. OECD Development Centre.
  17. Ciurlo, A. y Salvatori, S. (2021). El impacto de las relaciones de género en la migración calificada: el caso de las mujeres mexicanas y colombianas. Revista Arista-Crítica, 1(1), 84-102. https://doi.org/10.18041/2745-1453/rac.2020.v1n1.6409
  18. Contreras, R. (2007). Motivos de migración (reflexiones sobre el género femenino). En A. Durán. (Coord.), Mujeres afectadas por el fenómeno migratorio en México. Una aproximación desde la perspectiva de género (pp. 24-34). Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres México.
  19. Cortes, G. (2016). Women and migrations: Those who stay. EchoGéo, (37), Art. 14892. https://doi.org/10.4000/echogeo.14892
  20. Coxhead, I., Nguyen, C. y Linh, V. (2015). Migration in Vietnam: New evidence from recent surveys [Discussion Paper no. 2]. Vietnam Development Economics; World Bank Group.
  21. Czaika, M. y De Haas, H. (2012). The role of internal and international relative deprivation in global migration. Oxford Development Studies, 40(4), 423-442. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2012.728581
  22. Czaika, M. y Reinprecht, C. (2022). Migration drivers: Why do people migrate? En P. Scholten (Ed.), Introduction to migration studies. An interactive guide to the literatures on migration and diversity. Springer Nature.
  23. Danzer, A. y Dietz, B. (2014). Labour migration from Eastern Europe and the EU’s quest for talents. Journal of Common Market Studies, 52(2), 183-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12087
  24. De Haan, A. (1997). Migration as family strategy: Rural-urban labor migration in India during the twentieth century. The History of the Family, 2(4), 481-505. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1081-602X(97)90026-9
  25. De Haas, H. (2011). The determinants of international migration Conceptualising policy, origin and destination effects [Documento de trabajo núm. 32]. International Migration Institute.
  26. De Haas, H., Czaika, M., Flahaux, M., Mahendra, E., Natter, K., Vezzoli, S. y Villares, M. (2019). International migration: Trends, determinants, and policy effects. Population and Development Review, 45(4), 885-922. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12291
  27. De Jong, G. (2000). Expectations, gender, and norms in migration decision-making. Population Studies, 54(3), 307-319.
  28. De Jong, G., Abad, R., Arnold, F., Cariño, B., Fawcett, J. y Gardner, R. (1983). International and internal migration decision making: A value-expectancy based analytical framework of intentions to move from a rural Philippine province. International Migration Review, 17(3), 470-484. https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838301700305
  29. Démurger, S. (2015). Migration and families left behind. IZA World of Labor, 144.
  30. D’Ingiullo, D. Odoardi, I. y Quaglione, D. (2023). Stay or emigrate? How social capital influences selective migration in Italy. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 10(1), 529-548.
  31. Docquier, F., Lowell, B. y Marfouk, A. (2009). A gendered assessment of highly skilled emigration. Population and Development Review, 35(2), 297-322.
  32. Ellis, M., Conway, D. y Bailey, A. (1996). The circular migration of Puerto Rican women: Towards a gendered explanation. International Migration, 34(1), 31-64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1996.tb00179.x
  33. Ferrant, G. y Tuccio, M. (2015). How do female migration and gender discrimination in social institutions mutually influence each other? [Documento de trabajo núm. 326]. OECD Development Centre.
  34. Fields, G., Cichello, P., Freije, S., Menéndez, M. y Newhouse, D. (2003). Household income dynamics: A four-country story. The Journal of Development Studies, 40 (2), 30-54.
  35. Gaibazzi, P. (2023). Indirect migration management: Entangled histories of (externalized) repatriation in and beyond the Gambia’s colonial legacy. Geoforum, 155, Art. 103707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103707
  36. García, B. y Pacheco, E. (2014). Participación económica en las familias: el papel de las esposas en los últimos 20 años. En C. Rabell (Coord.), Los mexicanos. Un balance en el cambio demográfico. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
  37. Grabska, K., De Regt, M. y Del Franco, N. (2019). Adolescent girls’ migration in the global South: Transitions into adulthood. Palgrave MacMillan.
  38. Gregorio, C. y Gonzálvez, H. (2012). Las articulaciones entre género y parentesco en el contexto migratorio: más allá de la maternidad transnacional. Ankulegi, (16), 43-57.
  39. Grieco, E. y Boyd, M. (2023). Women and migration: Incorporating gender into international migration theory [Documento de trabajo]. Florida State University College of Social Sciences.
  40. Gubhaju, B. y De Jong, G. (2009). Individual versus household migration decision rules: Gender and marital status differences in intentions to migrate in South Africa. International Migration, 47 (1), 31-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2008.00496.x
  41. Guntoro, D., Indartono, S. y Sholekhah, I. (2019). Understanding gender, marital status & education as internal migration factors in developing countries. Jurnal Pendidikan Geografi, 24 (2), 98-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.17977/um017v24i22019p098
  42. Hamilton, M., Hill, E. y Adamson, E. (2021). A career shift? Bounded agency in migrant employment pathways in the aged care and early childhood education and care sectors in Australia. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(13), 3059-3079. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1684246
  43. Handler, H. (2018). Economic links between education and migration: An overview [Flash Paper 4/2018]. Policy Crossover Center.
  44. Haug, S. (2008). Migration networks and migration decision-making. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 34 (4), 585-605. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830801961605
  45. Haushofer, J. y Shapiro, J. (2013). Household Response to Income Changes: Evidence from an Unconditional Cash Transfer Program in Kenya. Innovations for Poverty Action.
  46. He, Q. y Gerber, T. (2020). Origin-country culture, migration sequencing, and female employment: Variations among immigrant women in the United States. International Migration Review, 54 (1), 233-261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918318821651
  47. Heidbrink, L. (2019). The coercitive power of debt: Migration and deportation of Guatemalan indigenous youth. The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 24 (1), 263-281. https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12385
  48. Hoffman, E. y Buckley, C. (2013). Global changes and gendered response: The feminization of migration from Georgia. International Migration Review, 47 (3), 508-538.
  49. Hughes, C., Bhandari, P., Young, L., Swindle, J., Thornton, A. y Williams, N. (2020). Family Obligation Attitudes, Gender, and Migration. International Journal of Sociology, 50 (4), 237-264.
  50. Igareda, N. (2013). Debates sobre la autonomía y el consentimiento en los matrimonios forzados. Anales de la Cátedra Francisco Suárez, 47, 203-219. https://doi.org/10.30827/acfs.v47i0.2164
  51. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (Inegi). (2024). Encuesta Nacional de la Dinámica Demográfica (ENADID) 2023. México. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enadid/2023/
  52. Jolly, S., Reeves, H. y Piper, N. (2005). Gender and migration: Overview report. Institute of Development Studies.
  53. Khan, I., Alharthi, M., Haque, A. y Illiyan, A. (2023). Statistical analysis of push and pull factors of migration: A case study of India. Journal of King Saud University-Science, 35 (8), Art. 102859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2023.102859
  54. Kofman, E. y Raghuram, P. (2012). Women, Migration, and Care: Explorations of Diversity and Dynamism in the Global South. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 19 (3), 408-432. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs012
  55. Kok, J. (2010). The Family Factor in Migration Decisions. En J. Lucassen, L. Lucassen y P. Manning (Eds.), Migration History in World History. Brill.
  56. Kothari, U. (2003). Staying put and staying poor? Journal of International Development, 15 (5), 645-657.
  57. Kuzminac, M. (2021). The position of migrant women from the perspective of employment and labour relations the road towards equality and the challenges by the road. Eudaimonia, 5 (2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.51204/IVRS_21201A
  58. Martínez, M. y Ferraris, S. (2016). Trabajo y masculinidad: el rol de proveedor en el México metropolitano. En M. Coubès, P. Solís y M. Zavala (Coords.), Generaciones, cursos de vida y desigualdad social en México (pp. 403-428). El Colegio de México.
  59. Massey, D., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A. y Taylor, E. (1999). Theories of international migration: A review and appraisal. Population and Development Review, 19 (3), 431-466. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938462
  60. Massey, D., Fischer, M. y Capoferro, C. (2006). International migration and gender in Latin America: A comparative analysis. International Migration, 44 (5), 63-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00387.x
  61. Merino, V. (2017). Implications of the debate on irregular migration in the European and Spanish asylum regime. Migraciones Internacionales, 7(25), 101-126. https://doi.org/10.17428/rmi.v7i25.698
  62. Murray, M. (2006). Avoiding invalid instruments and coping with weak instruments. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20 (4), 111-132. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.20.4.111
  63. Nivalainen, S. (2004). Determinants of family migration: Short moves vs. long moves. Journal of Population Economics, 17 (1), 157-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-003-0131-8
  64. Nobles, J. y McKelvey, C. (2015). Gender, power, and emigration from Mexico. Demography, 52 (5), 1573-1600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-015-0401-6
  65. Palermo, F., Sergi, B. y Sironi, E. (2022). Does urbanization matter? Diverging attitudes toward migrants and Europe’s decision-making. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 83, Art. 101278.
  66. Pardede, E. y Venhorst, V. (2024). Does ethnicity affect ever migrating and the number of migrations? The case of Indonesia. European Journal of Population, 40, Art. 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-023-09694-z
  67. Platt, L. (2024). Race, ethnicity and immigration. Oxford Open Economics, 3(1), i362-i364. https://doi.org/10.1093/ooec/odad076
  68. Polavieja, J. (2015). Capturing culture: A new method to estimate exogenous cultural effects using migrant populations. American Sociological Review, 80(1), 166-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122414562600
  69. Posel, D. (2004). Have migration patterns in post-apartheid South Africa changed? Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 15(3-4), 277-292. https://doi.org/10.1177/02601079X04001500303
  70. Ramírez, T. y Gandini, L. (2016). Trabajadoras calificadas: las mujeres mexicanas en el mercado de trabajo estadounidense en perspectiva comparada. Revista Latinoamericana de Población, 10 (19), 33-56. https://doi.org/10.31406/relap2016.v10.i2.n19.2
  71. Ramoni, J., Orlandoni, G., Prasad, S., Torres, E. y Zambrano, A. (2017). Análisis de la duración del desempleo y el destino de los desempleados en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela. Revista CEPAL, (122), 255-273. https://hdl.handle.net/11362/42040
  72. Robertson, S., Cheng, Y. y Yeoh, B. (2018). Introduction: Mobile aspirations? Youth im/mobilities in the Asia-Pacific. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 39(6), 613-625. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2018.1536345
  73. Rodríguez, E. y Tiongson, E. (2001). Temporary migration overseas and household labor supply: Evidence from urban Philippines. International Migration Review, 35 (3), 709-725.
  74. Roohi, S. (2017). Caste, kinship and the realisation of ‘American Dream’: High-skilled Telugu migrants in the USA. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(16), 2756-2770. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1314598
  75. Ryan, L., Sales, R., Tilki, M. y Siara, B. (2009). Family strategies and transnational migration: recent polish migrants in London. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 35(1), 61-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830802489176
  76. Sana, M. y Hu, C. (2006). Is international migration a substitute for social security? Well-Being and Social Policy, 2 (2), 27-48.
  77. Sancar, C. y Akbas, Y. (2022). The effect of unemployment and urbanization on migration in Turkey: An evaluation in terms of the Harris-Todaro model. Sosyoekonomi, 30(51), 215-239. https://doi.org/10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2022.01.11
  78. Schewel, K. (2020). Understanding immobility: Moving beyond the mobility bias in migration studies. International Migration Review, 54(2), 328-355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918319831952
  79. Schewel, K. (2022). Aspiring for change: Ethiopian women’s labor migration to the Middle East. Social Forces, 100 (4), 1619-1641. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab051
  80. Schüring, E., Pearson, C., Castro, A., Mathebula, B., Kronenberg, V., Becker, M. y Horneber, J. (2017). Social protection as an alternative to migration? Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University.
  81. Setrana, M. y Kleist, N. (2022). Gendered dynamics in West African migration. En J. Teye, (Ed.), Migration in West Africa. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer.
  82. Shrestha, G., Pakhtigian, E. y Jeuland, M. (2023). Women who do not migrate: Intersectionality, social relations, and participation in Western Nepal. World Development, 161, Art. 106109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106109
  83. Sin fronteras, IAP. (2004). Violencia y mujeres migrantes en México. Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres México. https://imumi.org/file/2024/02/Sin_Fronteras-Informe_Violencia_y_
  84. Mujeres_Migrantes_en_Mexico_2004.pdf
  85. Smith, M. y Floro, M. (2020). Food insecurity, gender, and international migration in low- and middle-income countries. Food Policy, 91, Art. 101837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101837
  86. Stock, J. y Yogo, M. (2005). Testing for weak instruments in linear IV regression. En D. Andrews y J. Stock (Eds.), Identification and inference for econometric models: Essays in honor of Thomas Rothenberg. Cambridge University Press.
  87. Tang, S. (2019). Determinants of migration and household member arrangement among poor rural households in China: The case of North Jiangsu. Population, Space and Place, 26(1), Art. e2279. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2279
  88. Thorsen, D. (2010). The place of migration in girls’ imagination. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 41(2), 256-280.
  89. Torosyan, K., Gerber, T. y Goñalons, P. (2016). Migration, household tasks, and gender: Evidence from the Republic of Georgia. International Migration Review, 50(2), 445-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12147
  90. Torres, N. (2015). Matrimonio forzado: aproximación fenomenológica y análisis de los procesos de incriminación. Estudios Penales y Criminológicos, XXXV, 831-917.
  91. Turner, B. (2007). The enclave society: Towards a sociology of immobility. European Journal of Social Theory, 10(2), 287-304. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431007077807
  92. Van Hear, N. (2014). Reconsidering migration and class. International Migration Review, 48 (1), 100-121.
  93. Van Mol, C., Snel, E., Hemmerechts, K. y Timmerman, C. (2018). Migration aspiration and migration culture. A case-study of Ukrainian migration towards the European Union. Population, Space and Place, 24 (5), Art. e2131. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2131
  94. Willekens, F. (2017). The decision to emigrate: A simulation model based on the theory of planned behaviour. En A. Grow y J. van Bavel (Eds.), Agent-based modelling in population studies (pp. 257-299). Springer.
  95. Zlotnik, H. (2003). Migration and the family: the female perspective. Asian-Pacific Migration Journal, 4 (2-3), 253-271. https://doi.org/10.1177/011719689500400205