The gendered lived work experiences of young rural-urban migrants in Hanoi

Thao Dang & Paul Henman

School of Social ScienceThe University of Queensland

Gendered dimension of migration: Material and social outcomes of South-South migration

30 June - 2nd July 2015, Singapore

Overview of presentation

• Research context • Research questions• Research design • Findings • Discussion and conclusion • Questions and answers

Research context

• What have known about internal migration? - Increased number of internal migrants, younger and feminisation - Low skill migrant workers mainly employed in the urban informal

employment, concentrating in three sectors: service, construction, and manufacturing

- Male and female experienced migration process and outcomes differently

- High level of exploitation (difficult work, long w/hour, low pay) and high risk and vulnerability)

- Limited opportunities for career development

Research questions

• What are the lived work experiences of young male and female rural-urban migrants?

• What factors mediate the lived work experiences of young male and female migrants?

Research design

• Qualitative research • Methods: participant interviews,

adapted- photo-voice, and field observation

• Research site: Hanoi, Vietnam• Participants:

- 12 (5M, 7F) young rural-urban migrants, aged 18-25;

- employed in the construction and service sector;

- living and working in Hanoi from 1-4 years;

- Education: primary-high school completion

Participants’ profileName Gender Employment

sectorOccupation Working sites Got the job through

Cuong Male Constructio

n sector

Brick layer + Plumber Construction sites Uncle and male friend of mother

Tam Male Construction worker Construction sites Male friend (Co-villager)

Duc Male Metal worker Construction sites + Family workshop

Uncle

Lam Male Metal worker Construction sites + Family workshop

Male friend

Ha Female Service sector

Housemaid Family home Broker ladyHang Female Housemaid Family home Broker lady Nga Female Hairdresser Family hairdressing store Female friend

of grandma Mai Female Hairdresser Family hairdressing store Female friend

Linh Female Restaurant waitress Restaurant Male friend

Xuan Female Shop assistant Market Broker lady

Hoa Female Flower maker Shop assistant

Shop + Market Female friend (co-villager)

Hung Male Sales assistant Store Uncle

Findings: Gendered migration networks- getting work

Friendship network:

The first time I came to Hanoi I was accompanied by a friend in my village. He worked there [as a construction worker] and he asked me if I wanted to go to work with him [when he visited hometown]. So I just followed him.

(Tam, male, construction worker) Relative network

When I finished high school, I did not take exam into higher education. My uncle asked me if I wanted to work for him. And I came here to work for him since then

(Hung, male, sales assistant)

Employment brokerage serviceShe introduced me to the job and got paid… She lives just close to my house [in the village], she earns money by introducing people like us to the

employers… (Hang, female, domestic worker)

Working conditions: Domestic workplaces

• Working and living at the same place • More female than male respondents worked in this

setting; females involved in domestic work while male did not

• Long working hours (particularly females as they involved with extra domestic based work)

• Female had limited or no interactions with outsiders while males did

• Females are confined within this domestic space while males involved travelling to their workplaces

Working conditions: Public workplaces

• Busy, fast changing working environment • Interacting with many people, dealing with

customers, handling cashes • Long working hours but more freedom after work

as work and living spaces were separated • More females than males working in this

environment • Highly gendered social relations at workplaces (i.e

same gender workmates and employer)

Working conditions: Mobile workplaces

• Frequently change of work venue-move from one place to another

• Jobs are heavy, difficult (outdoor conditions), physical demanding

• No female was found on this work environment

Workplace safety and vulnerability • High level of exploitation • High risk of involving in accidents in construction sites (M), but • Low awareness and lack of workplace safety enforcement • Responsibility to compensate for valuable goods damaged or stolen • Female migrants experienced risk of gender-based abuse

Summary of key findings Domestic Public Mobile

Employment networks

Friends, co-villagers, broker services

Friends, co-villagers, relatives Friends, co-villagers, relatives

Working conditions

• Workplace was also living place

• Workplace was separated from accommodation

• Workplace venues frequently changed

• Participants lived temporarily at the construction site

Gender • Female migrants dominated

• Female dominated • Male exclusively

Working hours • Very long working hours,

no clear boundary between work and out of work hours

• Females involves extra unpaid domestic based work while males did not

• More regulated working hours

• Long hours but entitled to overtime payment

• More freedom after working hours due to separation between working and living space

• Fluctuated working hour pattern and payment, dependent on workload, and from contract to contract

Workplace safety & vulnerability

• High level of exploitation • Responsibility to compensate for damaged or stolen goods

• High risk of involving in accidents at work

Discussion and Conclusion

• Social networks play important role in facilitating migration and jobs for both young male and female migrants

• High level of exploration especially among ‘domestic’ workers Separation of workplace and accommodation might have important positive implication on reducing labour exploitation

• High level of workplace injuries and vulnerability (construction workers in particular) workplace safety procedure needed to be strictly observed by both migrants workers and their employers

• Some contrasts between migrant workers in ‘domestic’ and ‘mobile’ environment which might have important consequences on their long terms capital outcomes

References • Agergaard, J., & Vu, T. T. (2011). Mobile, Flexible, and Adaptable: Female Migrants in Hanoi's Informal Sector. Population, Space and Place, 17, 407-420. • Ahsan, R. M. (1997). Migratio of female construction labourers to Dhaka City, Bangladesh. International Journal of Population Geography, 3(1). • Asian Development Bank. (2005). Special Chapter- Labour markets in Asia: promoting full, productive, and decent employment. Key Indicators 2005: Labour Markets

in Asia: Promoting Full, Productive, and Decent Employment: Asian Development Bank.• Baey, G., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2015). Migration and Precarious Work: Negotiating Debt, Employment, and Livelihood Strategies Amongst Bangladeshi Migrant Men

Working in Singapore's Construction Industry: Migrating out of Poverty Research Programme consortium.• Baldassar, L. (2008). Missing Kin and Longing to be Together: Emotions and the Construction of Co-presence in Transnational Relationships. Journal of Intercultural

Studies, 29(3), 247-266. doi: 10.1080/07256860802169196• Betancourt, T. S., A, S., S.E, K., Dhavan, N., & Williams, T. P. ( 2013). A qualtitative case study of child protection issues in the Indian construction industry: investigating

the insecurity, health, and interrelated rights of migrant families. BMC Public Health, 13(858). • Bui, T. T. T., & Kretchmar, J. (2008). Supervisors and Accomplices: Extra-Marital Sex among Migrant Construction Workers in Ha Noi, Vietnam. Culture, health &

sexuality, 10(sup1), S189-S199. doi: 10.1080/13691050701790885• Chant, S. (Ed.). (1992). Gender and Migration in developing countries. London, New York: Belhaven Press.• Chant, S., & Radcliffe, S. A. (1992). Migration and development: the importance of gender. In S. Chant (Ed.), Gender and Migration in Developing Countries. London:

Belhaven Press.• Chin, C. B. N. (2003). Visible bodies, invisible work: state practice toward migrant women in domestic workers in Malaysia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 12(1-

2). • Clatts, M. C., Giang, L. M., Goldsamt, L. A., & Yi, H. (2007). Male sex work and HIV risk among young heroin users in Hanoi, Vietnam. Sexual Health, 4(4), 261-267. doi:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/SH07018• de Haas, H. (2006). Migration, remittances and regional development in Southern Morocco. Geoforum, 37. • De Jong, G. (2000). Expectations, gender and norms in migration decicion making. Population Studies, 54. • Deshingkar, P., Zeitlyn, B., & Holtom, B. (2014). Does migration for Domestic Work Reduce Poverty? A Review of the Literature and an Agenda fo Research (Vol.

Working paper 15 ). UK: Migrating out of Poverty Research Program Consortium • Douglas Gurak, F. C. (1992). Migration Networks and the Shaping of Migraiton Systems. In L. L. L. Mary M.Kritz, Hania Zlotnik (Ed.), International migration systems: a

global approach. New York Oxford University Press.• Duong, K. H. (2007). Wave of female housemaid migrants from rural to urban areas: Consequences and Solutions Vietnam Development Forum.• Fan, C. C. (2008). China on the Move: Migration, the State, and the Household. London and New York: NY: Rouutledge.• Fernandes, D., & G.D, B. P. (2011). Social Networks of Migrant Construction Workers in Goa. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 47(1), 65-77. doi: 10.2307/23070555• Field, J. (2008). Social capital (second ed.). London, Newyork Routledge Taylor and Francis.• GSO. (2005). The 2004 Migration Survey: Major Findings. Hanoi: GSO.• GSO and UNFPA. (2011). Vietnam population and housing census 2009: migration and urbanisation in Vietnam- patterns, trends and differentials. Hanoi: Ministry of

Planning and Investment, General Statistics Office.• Hoang, L. A. (2011). Gendered networks and migration decision-making in Northern Vietnam. Social & Cultural Geography, 12(5), 419-434. doi:

10.1080/14649365.2011.588800• Huang, S., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (1996). Ties that bind: State policy and migration female domestic helpers in Singapore. Geoforum, 27(4).

References (cont.)• ILO. (2001). The Construction Industry in the Twenty first Century: Its image, Employment Prospects and Skill Requirements. Geneva: International Labour

Organisation.• ILO. (2013). It's time to improve work safety. from http://www.ilo.org/hanoi/Informationresources/Publicinformation/WCMS_207349/lang--en/index.htm• IOM (Ed.). (2005). Migration, Development and Poverty Reduction in Asia. Geneva: International Organisation for Migration • Jensen, R., & Peppard, D. J. (2003). Hanoi's informal sector and the Vietnamese economy: a case study of roving street vendors. Journal of Asian and African Studies,

38(1), 71-84. • Jolly, S., Bell, E., & Narayanas, L. (2003). Gender and Migration in Asia:L overview and Annotated Bibliography. UK: Institute of Development Studies.• Karis, T. (2013). Unofficial Hanoians: Migration, Native Place and Urban Citizenship in Vietnam. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 14(3), 256-273. doi:

10.1080/14442213.2013.794156• Lawson, V. A. (1998). Hierarchical households and gendered migration in Latin America: feminist extensions to migration research Progress in Human Geography, 22. • Le, B. D., Tran, L. G., & Nguyen, P. T. (2011). Social protection for rural-urban migrants in Vietnam: current situation, challenges and opportunities CSP Research Report

08: Centre for Social Protection, Institute of Development Studies • Li, L., Morrow, M., & M, K. (2007). Vulnerable but feeling safe: HIV risk among male rural to urban migratn workers in Chengdu, China. AIDS Care: Psychologcal and

Socio-meidated Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 19(10). • Luts, H. (2010). Gender in the Migratory Process. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(10). • Massey, D. S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A., & Taylor, J. E. (1993). Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal. Population and

Development Review, 19(3), 431-466. • Mosse, D. G., S, & V, S. (2005). On the margins in the city: Adivasi seasonal labour migration in Western India. Economic and Political Weekly, 40(28). • Nguyen, T. N. M. (2012). Doing Osin: Rural migrants negotiating domestic work in Hanoi. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 4(7). • Nguyen, V. H., Dunne, M. P., Debattista, J., Nguyen, T. H., & Dao, T. M. A. (2012). Social Contexts of Risk Behaviors for HIV Among Male, Unskilled, Unregistered

Laborers in Urban Vietnam. Qualitative health research, 22(7), 871-879. doi: 10.1177/1049732311424510• Nguyen, X. H. T. (2008). Migration of youth to Hochiminh city Vietnam: Determinants of Mobility and Adjustment Experiences. (PhD), The University of Adelaide, . • Pattenden, J. (2012). Migrating between rural Raichur and Boomtown Bangalore: class relations and the circulation of labour in South India. Global Labour Journal,

3(1). • Picherit, D. (2012). Migrant labouers' struggles between village and urban migration sites: labour standards, rural development and politics in South India. Global

Labour Journal, 3(1). • Piper, N. (2008). Feminisation of migration and the social dimensions of development: the Asian case. Third World Quaterly, 29. • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.• Radcliffe, S. (1991). The role of gender in peasant migration: conceptural issues from the Peruvian Andes. Review of Radical Political Economic, 23. • Spencer, S. (2011). Visual Research Methods in the Social Sciences • Thorat, Y. S. P., & Jones, H. (2011). Remittance Needs and Opportunities in India. New Delhi: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).• UNDP Vietnam. (2010). Urban Poverty Assessment in Hanoi and Hochiminh city. Hanoi: United Nations Development Program, Vietnam.• UNFPA Vietnam. (2010). Fact sheet: Internal migration in Vietnam: Evidence from the 2009 Census.• Van Nguyen, H., Dunne, M. P., & Debattista, J. (2013). Risks for HIV Infection Among Male Street Laborers in Urban Vietnam. Journal of community health, 38(4), 626-

633. doi: 10.1007/s10900-013-9657-1• Vu, T. T., & Agergaard, J. (2012). Doing family. Asian Population Studies, 8(1), 103-119. • Winkels, A., & Adger, W. N. (2002). Sustainable Livelihoods and Migration in Vietnam: The Importance of Social Capital as Access to Resources. Paper presented at the

International Symposium: Sustaining Food Security and Managing Natural Resources in Southeast Asia, Chiangmai, Thailand. • Zeitlyn, B., Deshingkar, P., & Holtom, B. (2014). Internal and Regional Migration for Construction Work: A Research Agenda Migrating Out of Poverty: Research

Programme Consortium. UK: University of Sussex.