Volume 13, 2004

Issue N. 4

Helen Xiuhong You and Dudley L. Poston, Jr

"Are Floating Migrants in China "Child-bearing Guerrillas?": An Analysis of Floating Migration and Fertility," Vol. 13 (4), pp. 405-422, 2004
 

In China, the media often portray the floating migrant population as “child-bearing guerrillas,” that is, as persons who have moved to new locations, usually in urban areas, because they want to escape the supervision of their local family planning workers and be able to have more children than the policies allow. Migration theory predicts the opposite, that is, that migrants in general should have fewer children than non-migrants in the areas of origin. To our knowledge there has been no empirical examination in all of China of whether floating migrants are “child-bearing guerrillas.” Earlier studies by Goldstein et al. (1993) and Yang (2000) have looked at this relationship in one province. In this paper we use sample data from the 1990 census to assess the relationship between floating migration and fertility. A floating migrant is a person who has moved to a new location but has not transferred his/her household registration (hukou) to this new location. We conduct a series of logistic regressions and show that in many instances, after controlling for relevant demographic, social, and economic factors, floating migrants are not “child-bearing guerrillas”; indeed their likelihood of having had a baby in the preceding 18 months is actually less than that of the non-migrants in the areas of origin.

Carmen Voigt-Graf and Siew-Ean Khoo

"Indian Student Migration to Australia," Vol. 13 (4), pp. 423-443, 2004

There has been a marked increase in the migration of students worldwide, particularly from developing countries to developed countries. This article examines the migration of students from India to Australia. The number of Indians arriving in Australia on student visas has shown an increasing trend though numbers have fluctuated from year to year. The article examines the role of Australia’s education export market, analyzes the main reasons for Australia’s attractiveness for Indian students, discusses the characteristics pf Indians arriving on student visas and points to some recent controversies surrounding Indian student migration to Australia.

 

Masaaki Satake
"Filipina-Japanese Intermarriages: A Pathway to New Gender and Cross-Cultural Relations," Vol. 13 (3), pp. 445-471, 2004
 

This article analyzes the patterns and trends of intermarriages between Filipino women and Japanese men from the 1980s to the present. It presents the factors explaining the increase in such marriages and examines the characteristics of Japanese men married to Filipino women. The narratives of Filipina-Japanese couples are situated in the larger contexts of the family, community and society. In attempting to create a dynamic family model, these intermarriages reveal possibilities for new gender and cross-cultural relations.

Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and Gopa Samanta
"Fleeting Land, Fleeting People: Bangladeshi Women in a Charland Environment in Lower Bengal, India," Vol. 13 (3), pp. 475-495, 2004
 

Riverine islands (chars in Bengali or diaras in middle Gangetic plain) are common in deltaic lower Bengal and have often provided ideal places for the settlement of unauthorized migrants. Many of these chars are shifting, temporary and flood-prone, but some get stabilized with time although their legal status as “land” still remains contested. This article is about the life experiences of some Bangladeshi women who have migrated from Bangladesh to India without proper authorization papers. It is based on field surveys among very poor migrants in the Char Gaitanpur, an attached char of the Damodar River in southern West Bengal. Participatory research methods, group discussions and informal conversations were conducted with participants in the study. With little or no resources, the choura women undergo a long and hard struggle for survival in this land of high vulnerability. Overburdened with domestic chores as well as earning a living for their families, women form closely-knit social networks among them to facilitate their sustenance in this land of uncertainty.
 

S Iruduya Rajan
"From Kerala to the Gulf: Impacts of Labor Migration," Vol. 13 (3), pp. 497-509, 2004
 

This article reviews the economic and social consequences of labor migration from Kerala to the Gulf Region. In India, Kerala is both the major source of migrant workers and the primary recipient of workers’ remittances. Based on a survey of 10,000 households in Kerala, the article presents the economic impacts of labor migration in terms of housing quality and amenities and ownership of consumer durables. The social consequences are assessed in terms of how labor migration has affected the care of the elderly and women’s roles. A major policy challenge is preparing for the return of migrants.
 

Liangni Liu
"The Changing Status of Chinese Women Migrants in New Zealand," Vol. 13 (3), pp. 511-521, 2004
 

This study compares four aspects - demography, arrival conditions, employment and adaptation - of Chinese women migrants in New Zealand over three periods, before 1987, from 1987 to 1996 and after 1996. The two principal findings were, firstly, that the gender ratio of Chinese female migrants rose from well below 50 percent before 1987 to more than 52 percent in 2001. This may be attributed to the “astronaut’s wife” phenomenon and the arrival of older females and younger females who have gained residency as parents or spouses. Secondly, female migrants who entered New Zealand after 1987 tend to have a higher education than previous migrants. However, the employment situation of recent arrivals seems unfavorable when compared with those who arrived in New Zealand before 1987. As a result, many recent arrivals undergo re-training to gain recognized qualifications to enhance their employment opportunities.

Caleb Cheuk-yin Kwong
"The Impact of "Urban-Rural" Migration in Indonesia: A Case Study of Bank Rakyat Indonesia Employees," Vol. 13 (3), pp. 523-532, 2004

This article attempts to evaluate the impact of “urban-rural” migration on Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) employees in three aspects. First, it analyzes the impact of migration on employees’ personal lives, such as their perceptions of their new environment and living conditions, their worries, their ways of maintaining family ties and long-distance relationship, etc. Second, it examines the impact of migration on their work performance. Third, it examines how BRI tackles the demoralization problem through their human resource management policies. The study reveals the use of “carrot-and-stick” policies, such as promotion, bonus, allowances and incentives to offset the disadvantages of such a movement.