There were 164 million economically active or working migrants in 2017 (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2018). Though the total number of male and female migrants is similar (see the Introduction), there are more male than female migrant workers (ILO, 2018). This is due to the fact that female migrants in general have a lower rate of labour market integration than male migrants (Tastsoglou and Preston, 2005), and many of them do temporary work (Vosko, 2009). Part of the reason is because of the social expectations around gender or gender hierarchy within the household (Raghuram, 2004).
However, women often have a higher rate of labour market participation in their country of destination than in their country of origin (Flippen and Parrado, 2015). In other words, female migrants are more likely to work than female non-migrants (ILO, 2015), though highly educated migrant women often work in lower skilled occupations and experience deskilling. One reason for this deskilling is that decisions made at the (heterosexual) household level are often made in favour of the male partner’s career (Cooke, 2007) and thus women’s careers may suffer (Clark and Withers, 2002).
For similar reasons, female migrants who migrated alone or prior to their spouses have significantly higher chances of finding work than those who migrated together with their husbands or those who joined their husbands later (Taylor, 2007; Flippen and Parrado, 2015). Similarly, as more women migrate for family reunification purposes (Birschall, 2016), their migration may come with employment restrictions, leaving them unable to access formal employment or match their previous employment (see Family and migration).