| Author | Nguyen Kim Ha |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.GD-99-5 |
| Subject(s) | Rural-urban migration--Vietnam--Hanoi
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Spontaneous rural-urban migration to big cities has been a new phenomenon in the transition
period in Vietnam. Transfer of land use rights to the families in rural areas, abandoning of the
subsidy system on goods and services in urban areas and the privatization of state-owned
enterprises have lead to the increase in number of migrants in the cities. Estimates of the number
of migrants to Ho Chi Minh City are in the range of 70,000-100,000 annually. In Hanoi, a much
smaller city than Ho Chi Minh City, it is estimated that approximately 40 percent of the net
annual growth of 55,000 in the population of the city is due to migration.
By interviewing 60 migrant women in six groups from six different professions that migrant
women engage themselves in Hanoi, this study aimed at examining the reasons that push
women farmers to migrate to Hanoi as well as the consequences and impacts of migration on
them and their families. In order to achieve these objectives exploratory research methodology
was employed in this study. The respondents in this survey were either those who has migrated
to Hanoi and do not intend to live there permanently and those who visit there home village at
least once every three months.
It can be concluded from the results of this study that an increase in number of women
migrating to Hanoi is occurring in response to the renovation related developments. Most
women migrants described economic reasons as the main force behind their migration
decisions. But there are other reasons also such as discord within family, lack of land, etc. No
evidence was found that could prove that women's migration had negative impacts on their
families. In migrants' families, improvement in economic status and an increase in schooling
years of children took place. But women migrants themselves have suffered from poor
working and living conditions in Hanoi such as lack of personal safety and or living in bad
quality hostels.
Women's migration to cities show those women are moving from a reproductive role to a
productive role. In other words, they go out of their kitchens to enter into urban labor market.
It has changed the stereotype of women's economic dependent status in families and in
society. Changes in gender division of labor in-migrants families have confirmed that the
persistence of pattern of division of labor can be changed. There is an urgent need for policy
makers to recognize this role and accordingly include them in planning for production and
decision making. |
| Year | 1999 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Gender and Development Studies (GD) |
| Chairperson(s) | K.elkar, Govind; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Walter, Pierre G. ;Dale, Reidar; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) ; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999 |