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Royal University of Phnom Penh Master of Arts in Sociology-Anthropology Major in Rural Development (MASA)

Migration and Marital Timing: Migrants among Garment

Factory Workers in Phnom Penh

Presented: Hong Sineath

18th/01/2008

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Contents

Chapter I: Introduction1.1. Background of the study1.2. Problem Statement1.3. Research Questions1.4. Objectives of the study1.5. Rationale of the study1.6. Limitation of the study

Chapter II: Literature Review Chapter III: Methodology

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Chapter I: Introduction

1.1. Background of the study Nuptiality play important role in the population

demography of a country. It is receiving much attention in current years (General Census of Cambodia, 1998).

Delay marriage and Early marriage, decrease in educational attainment, occupational achievement and marital stability (Teachman et al. 1987; Marini 1985 and Otto 1979; Burchinal 1965 and Otto 1979; and Glick 1962, Parke and Glick 1967 cited in Nancy S. Landale [1994]).

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1.1. Background of the study (cont.)

They further stated that these relate significantly to family formation besides implications on education, labor force participation, reproductive health, and stability.

The 1998 Census: Phnom Penh has the highest proportion of single both man and woman. That is, young immigrants in Phnom Penh, for the purpose of work and study, mostly are categorized to the single part.

Does this mean that rural-urban migration in Cambodia is a process to postpone marriage?

Rather interestingly, there is a question whether rural-urban migration here have any direct effect on marital timing among immigrants in Phnom Penh, garment factory workers, in particular, or not?

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1.2. Problem Statement These migrants are marginalized group and hazard living

in the city. Some of them are hopeless to pursue their living in the city. However, they say that they have no choice because of their families destitute living in their home village of rural area where mostly they are free.

They sometimes even have to remit some money for their families at the origin places. Thus, factory workers encounter many constrains in their lives.

Further, they fact the challenging with the critical and disdained view from the public like some people say that if you marry garment factory workers, you will not have any good life for your future and your children.

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1.2. Problem Statement (cont.)

• Hazard condition pressure on migrants, especially their health as it is described above with the early or the delay marriage, what will be the next generation affected? Reflecting to this situation, how would those garment factory workers adapt to the situation, toward their age at marriage formation?

• To find out this, several questions are necessary to raise here as following:

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1.3. Research Questions

1. Do migrants’ living condition in the city is better than their living in their home villages?

2. What marriage means toward factory workers who are given less than around US$ 30 to US$ 40 per month?

3. How do migrants view their status in the city? What about their behavior toward marital timing?

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1.4. Objectives of the study

The aim of this study is to gain better understanding how migrants among garment factory workers view and what is their union formation regarding to their marital timing? To reach these, there are some main objectives as following:

1. To gain better understanding the living condition of migrants in the city, and how much they send remittances, and to find out how migrants manage their livings in the urban area with low-paid and responsibilities helping their families in their home village, also their adaptation to the city life

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1.4. Objectives of the study

2. To find out to what extent are the migrants under the influences of city culture

3. To examine the premarital relationships among these migrants

4. To gain better understanding the marital timing behavior among migrants and non-migrants (in the origin place)

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1.5. Rationale of the study

Understanding marriage timing is essential for understanding family structure and its relation to demographic behavior.

It is a way to spread out the migrants’ struggles and their marginalized lives to the public.

Also, this study could also be assistance for any development program that want to implement some development projects to enhance the condition and protection of migrants like the disadvantage migrants of garment factory workers in Phnom Penh.

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1.6. Limitation of the study It should be stated here that this study will not

stick to the point of migration resulted from marriage since nuptiality for Cambodian is strongly influenced by tradition and culture in which man will go to live with his wife’s family (Bunnak, P. 2006); it is about migration, and then marriage formation, instead.

Because of the dearth of the related studies here in Cambodia context, this study may be limited or in the way of narrow outcome.

In addition, this result will not enable to make a generalization for the whole country because of its small study site which may fit only for small context.

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Chapter II: Literature Review

o Migration is livelihood strategies for the shortage of labor needs which contributes to shape the economies and societies of the countries. It is the most precious way to alleviate poverty through remittances, particularly in supporting the subsistence and incomes of households in migrant’s home village.

o It further plays important role in life cycle including social, and cultural aspects for all countries (Md. Shahidul Haque, 2005: 11, Asia Pacific Population Journal, 2005).

o Leaving home is the transitional period changing children’s role as a burden for parents, or their families to become an independent economic role for their families, instead, since they do not ask their parents for money as before, especially they gain more freedom as long as they remit money for their families.

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Chapter II: Literature Review (cont.)

It may affect social structure since migrants bring along with progressive changes in the community while adapting to the new environment of the destination place (Md. Shahidul Haque, 2005: 11 cited in Asia Pacific Population Journal, 2005).

Labor migration, by and large, is resulted in some extend of people’s life styles have been transformed, socialization of children during long absences of their mothers, and by the changing role of some women in the family as they become the principal breadwinners (Manolo I. Abella, 2005 p. 78).

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Chapter II: Literature Review (cont.)

Structural constrains and conditions of new environment in the destination places make immigrants encounter shape the kinds of family arrangements and the actual patterns of behavior that develop in the new setting

Moreover, migration process, according to Nancy S. Landale (1994, 136), affect migrant’s behavior toward family formation since migrant is disrupted and need period of time to adapt to the new environment of the destination place. That is, studies of migration and the family must recognize the complexities underlying the behavior of immigrants.

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Chapter II: Literature Review (cont.)

Cited in Nancy S. Landale (1994, 136), Carlson (1985) men and women who immigrated to Australia after age 15, but before marriage delayed their marriages dramatically in comparison to the native-born. However, Aree Jampaklay (2006) found that rural-urban migration of Nang Rong to Bankok facilitate them into marriage.

Aree Jampaklay (2006) stated that migration may affect marital timing in two potentially contradictory ways, postpone or facilitate marital timing.

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Chapter II: Literature Review (cont.)

Following Aree Jampaklay (2006) this study tend to find out whether rural-urban migration process, particularly garment factory workers, affects on marital timing or not and whether it encourage or disrupt.

In addition, rural-urban migration may also affect marital timing through remittances when migration change migrants’ role in their families to power their decision making regarding to their own marital timing as well as through cultural change in the new environmental setting, city.

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Analytical FrameworkRural-Urban migration

Changing migrants’ attitude toward marriage formation

Remittance

Changing migrant’s role in the family, power and decision making

Cultural Change

Marital timing delay marriage or early marriage

Disrupt Facilitate

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Chapter III: Methodology

Data collection methods In order to gain sufficient data for this study,

data collection, besides secondary data collection, it will be based on mixed method of quantitative and qualitative method to gather the important and relevant information for this research.

3.1 Secondary data collection 3.2 Quantitative Method

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Chapter III: Methodology (cont.)

3.2.1 Identification of studied areaAgain, based on the census, this study will be

conducted in three different places,

- Garment factory migrants in Phnom Penh (where the census show that it consist of the highest singulate mean age at marriage [SMAM] 27.5 for male and 24.7 for female),

- Kampong Spueu (where SMAM is in the lowest catories, male, 23.1, Female, 21.9),

- and Krong Pailin (SMAM is lower after Phnom Penh, male, 26.4, female, 21.6).

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Chapter III: Methodology (cont.)

Married Migrant life story Age at marriage Married Non-Migrant life story

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Chapter III: Methodology (cont.)

3. 2. 2 Sample size selectionsTarget population and sample size: age is from 15

to 35 since these age groups, according to the General Population Census of Cambodia 1998, are already married both for male and female and in rural area and the urban.

- First group: Married migrants (garment factory workers)

- Second group: Married non-migrants from Kampong Spueu

- Third group: Married non-migrants from Krong Pailin

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The relevant key informant selection among migrants

Respondents Number Places1. Married migrants, first group in Phnom Penh 30 2. Married non-migrants in Krong Pailin, second group 303. Married non-migrants in K. Spueu, third group

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Total 90

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Chapter III: Methodology (cont.)

Data collection method There will be structure questionnaires

with open-ended and closed-ended questions for face to face interview which will be constructed before conducting the fieldwork.

Focus group discussion Of later, there will be interviewed by

unstructured interview with key informant of six to seven for each of two groups.

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Chapter III: Methodology (cont.)

3.3 Qualitative method To gain more information and deeper

understanding of its context, it is necessary to use participatory observation, life history, and in-dept interview with key informants.

This will allow researcher to stay with migrants in the fieldwork to understand their contexts. However, this participatory observation will be focus only on first group since this study objectively to gain better understanding the migrants, garment factory workers, in particular.

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Thank you so much for your paying attentions.

Comments and Questions!