Globalization has increased urban migration by skilled, young, unmarried women from various classes. How has this trend impacted upon their personal freedom and relations with family?
1. Globalization expanded services
Globalization expanded services, IT, BPO and gig sectors in cities, creating jobs attracting skilled, young, unmarried women.
2. Urban migration enhances personal freedom: financial
Urban migration enhances personal freedom: financial independence, mobility, and choice over dress, residence and lifestyle.
3. Cosmopolitan urban exposure weakens patriarchal surveillance
Cosmopolitan urban exposure weakens patriarchal surveillance and widens women’s social networks.
4. Family relations become negotiation-based
Family relations become negotiation-based, with women gaining bargaining power but facing pressure to remit and conform.
5. Positive impacts: improved status
Positive impacts: improved status, delayed marriage, greater say in marriage choice and support to natal families.
6. Negative impacts: conflicts over marriage timing
Negative impacts: conflicts over marriage timing, perceived loss of parental authority and moral policing of urban conduct.
7. Vulnerabilities persist: unsafe housing
Vulnerabilities persist: unsafe housing, workplace harassment, loneliness and precarity in informal jobs.
8. Ties often survive through remittances
Ties often survive through remittances, phone contact and visits, creating hybrid identities balancing freedom and obligation.
9. Way forward: safe working-women hostels
Way forward: safe working-women hostels, effective POSH enforcement and policies easing work-family reconciliation.
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