What are some of the ‘push and pull’ factors that drive urban migration?

• pull:
  • The conventional economic model for development (increased agricultural productivity > reduced farm labor needs > agricultural surplus > investment in industrial capacity > employment creation, primarily in urban areas)
  • perception of economic opportunity in cities (wage employment opportunities, pursuit of education, household economic ‘bet hedging’, undervaluing of subsistence economy, self-sustaining food production, sometimes only the success stories make it back)
• push:
  • rural hardship (drought, famine, decreasing ability to support household, environmental degradation)
  • others? If you were young and unmarried, what would you rather do–transplant rice shoots all day, or work for a wage in the Big City?

What are some of the differences between life in the city and in rural areas?

• economic activity (subsistence, reciprocity versus more of a market, cash economy)
• household division of labor–what are some of the common activities that occupy rural women’s time (it’s very important to get a good understanding of this–Boserup’s chapter 9 is a good source)? How is domestic work in the city different, according to Boserup?
• land tenure–property rights, resource use are different–more likely private property rights
• pace of life
• access to resources
• access to ‘vices’–prostitution, drugs,unemployment and crime
• cultural diversity–cities can be melting pots for ethnic groups, people from different regions, etc.
• physical infrastructure–Boserup discusses how population density provides advantages in terms of public works (getting things done for a community), and disadvantages in terms of access to land and resources (more restricted access, rights). Third world cities are often sprawling areas with little or no infrastructure

What are some of the changes households and women in them face as a result of urban migration?

Those who stay behind:

• female-headed households: there are more of these as a result, where men migrate (more often in Africa, but in other large cities in Asia and Latin America to a lesser extent)
• increased responsibility (perhaps including household food production, along with other productive and domestic responsibilities), often limited authority, access to resources

Families that migrate:

• women’s domestic responsibilities in town (how would they differ?);
• need for income (why?);
• fertility and family size (why might this change?);
• opportunities for women (why might they differ?);
• household financial obligations (in rural areas, women normally devote ‘disposable’ income to children–clothing, school needs, health)

Women who migrate

• especially in parts of Asia (but also, for instance, along U.S. Mexico border), women may migrate from rural areas to seek employment in cities, in both the informal (petty commerce, sex work) and formal sectors (often unskilled factory work) of the economy. What happens if they can’t find factory work?