Labor Migration and Family Stability

Lekshmi M & Haseeb P P

Introduction

An age-old sensation that carries within itself stories bearing tears and cheers, and joy and sorrow of teeming millions from across the world, migration, has myriad shades of effects across societies. One such society which has witnessed a large number of migration is Kerala. Kerala society has seen a high rate of male migration to Gulf countries. This paper discusses the different impacts that Gulf migration has on the family stability by focusing on the social and economic influences on family stability and psychological effects on wives of Gulf Migrants. By migrants, we refer to the males who went abroad to Gulf countries from Kerala to work. Stability, as per the paper, is social, economic and psychological firmness within the family. The study relies on different secondary sources including case studies and surveys. Through this study, within the limitations and constraints we had, we find that generalization of family stability is quite huge.

Economic and Social Impacts of Labor Migration on Families

Emigrant’s remittance accounts to almost one fourth of Kerala’s Gross Domestic Product (Rajan, 2010). Migration has constantly strengthened the financial stability of individual households and has been a major supporter of the Kerala economy. Due to the increase in the demand of workers which happened after the discovery of oil mines in the Gulf area in the 1960s and 70s many households in Kerala got chance to escape from the poverty trap through migration route. Since then the flow of income to migrant families increased causing a change in their consumption pattern. This led to an improvement in their standard of living thus leading to upward social and economic mobility.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the economic and social impacts of migration. One significant among them, India Migration Report 2010, finds that 94% of the families who had at least one migrant laborer spent the remittance for subsistence (Rajan, 2010). This clearly shows the impact of migration in the day-to-day lives of households in Kerala. Remittances also help family members to survive difficult times like illness or marriage of family members. It is found that, ‘27% migration was sought mainly to discharge family obligation and responsibilities such as marriage of sisters/daughters, education of children or medical treatment of members of households (Rajan, 2010). The study, while comparing the impact of migration on ‘quality of houses’ finds that the average quality of households with a migrant laborer is better than that of others. The study continues to report that ‘most emigrants are ordinary workers (laborers in the non-agricultural sector) who do not own, in general, a house that has been well constructed. Therefore when they do manage to amass a relatively large sum of money after working in the gulf or other destinations for a few years, the first thing they think about is investing in a good house.’ (Rajan, 2010). Another positive impact of migration as per the study was in using fuel for cooking. While 49.5% of families which had at least one migrant laborer had LPG connection, the same for other families were 26.8% (Rajan, 2010). The study also finds that the possession of consumer durables is high among the families of migrant laborers when compared to those of non-migrant laborers.

These improvements in the overall economic performance of the households had a strong impact on their position in the society. There has been an upward social mobility of people just because there were ‘Gulf Boys’ in their house. This impacted many households, which were once backward in many aspects to come to the mainstream, especially the Muslim community in the state. Even though they constitute less than quarter of total population of the state, the number of migrants and amount of remittance they receive constitute more than 50% (Zachariah & Rajan, 2013).

India Migration Report 2010 finds that, there has been a tendency of emergence of very small families in the state. Migration resulted in an increase of 33% and 42% of single and tow-member households respectively (Rajan, 2010). Most of the time, wives of the migrants are left behind in Kerala and are supposed to take the responsibility of maintenance of their families. Thus a feminization of labor takes place. Here, ‘traditional gender roles are challenged’ and women get the opportunity to ‘manage things on their own and gain new skills and higher status’ (Rajan, 2010). Gulati reports that the tendency of women staying behind, taking the responsibility of their husbands is higher than that of husbands staying behind taking the responsibility of wives (Gulati, 1983). This has had a huge impact on keeping the social role of the family, thus maintaining its stability.

As much migration contributes to increase the family stability, it also plays a role in weakening the same. Since 85.6% migration to gulf are by male members of family, who has an average age of 27 at the time of migration and mostly get married ‘between the  first emigration and final return’, their wives are left behind in Kerala (Zachariah & Rajan, 2013). This separation of husbands from their wives has major social consequences in which adverse ones are often neglected due to its beneficial impacts. Studies show that, one in every 10 married women in Kerala is living without their husbands and it is as high as one in every four among Muslim community (Zachariah & Rajan, 2013)). Among these ‘Gulf Wives’ the largest share are in the age group of 25-29. 85% of ‘Gulf Wives’ are out of actual workforce, 9.5% were employed and 6% were unemployed (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012). This shows that a majority of them are fully depended on the remittances sent by their husbands. According to KC Zachariah, 67.5% of total remittances are received by wives out of which 66.8% of them are controlled by them (Zachariah & Rajan, 2013). The rest are received and controlled by either the in-laws or other relatives. The control and use of remittance has been subjected to a lot of friction between the family members. Many a times this affects the family bonding and thus pose threat to stability. Zachariah finds that 25.3% of Gulf Wives are married before the age of 18, and have very less say regarding the migration of their husbands. A study finds that 77% migration after marriage was the decision of the husband and only 9.6% was that of wife (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012).

Another important consequence of migration is that it decides how much freedom a gulf wife is entitled to enjoy. The demands of the patriarchal notion of wifehood set constraints on her everyday life. A study named ‘Impact of Male Migration on Women’s Mobility’ by Aafke Marije Heringa finds that, married women in Kerala, who were once allowed to spend time outside for leisure (cinema, beach, shopping etc.) with husbands were not allowed to do so after their husband’s migration. ‘Visits to temples, mosques or church gatherings provided women who faced prejudice or had a desire to go out with a socially accepted excuse to leave the house’ (Heringa, 2010). Most often wives who have to deal with other men while running the households face questions even regarding their chastity as popular notion suggests wives in the absence of husbands have a greater chance to misbehave. Heringa further finds that younger married women have more pressure to prove their good conduct as most often they are the victims of flirtations and gossips.

Psychological Effect of Labor Migration on 'Gulf Wives’

Apart from the social and economic implications, migration also has its psychological impacts on women. It is quite impossible to quantify the psychological impacts of migration. Hence it is often less looked upon. Also it can be said that the negative psychological impacts are very often eclipsed by the positive social and economic effects. 25.3% of gulf wives in Kerala are married when they were less than 18 years old (state average 17.8 years) which means at such a young age they are loaded with responsibilities of marital life (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012). At the same time they suffer anxieties as they are separated from their natal families and also their husbands. The most important and a covert condition which the women face due to male migration are solitude and lack of communication. According to K C Zachariah, 85.8% of gulf wives have reported to have experienced loneliness (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012). Many a times ‘Gulf boys’ marry within their leave period of about a month and go back to their places of work leaving the newly wedded wife in the custody of her in-laws. She faces adjustment problems and hostility in the new environment. All this subjects women to feelings of resentfulness as she is unable to find anyone to communicate her real feelings to. Another major issue occurs during the sharing of remittances received. On one hand, the wives feel they did not get enough to meet their needs if the other male members of the family such as the father-in-law allocate money, while on the other, if they themselves take the financial decisions, it may invite displease of other members. In the case of middle-aged women singlehandedly running the household, their self-dependency has definitely increased. But still during all the decision making processes they find themselves missing the support they have had gotten if their spouses were with them. 86.7% were reported to have faced the burden of added responsibilities (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012). They independently look after the education and take care of the health of their children. Most of them are worried about their future and paying off debts. 32.6% were admitted to have insecurities (Zachariah & Rajan, 2012). Due to all this they undergo immense psychological stress and pressure. As a result, the history of mental illness among them is high in number. According to the medical superintendent of government mental hospital at Trichur, one of the districts with high Gulf migrants, ‘almost every second family which has a relative in Gulf has a history of mental illness’ (Gulati, 1983). The husbands come home after months or even years. This leads to separation and anxiety disorders among the wives of Gulf migrants. It is noted that the growth of information and communication technology has enabled to reduce these problems. The gulf wives keep regular contacts with their husbands abroad principally through phone calls apart from other means such as social networking sites, instantaneous messages and video chats. Yet all the growth of technology can never match the face-to-face conversations or the physical presence of their spouses.

Conclusion

The gulf migrants and their families have had mixed experiences from over the years. They have received huge financial benefits leading to an increased standard of living. They have been able to increase their social status through the status symbols of constructing a house, clearing off debts, purchasing gold, land and amassing wealth. They were able to help relatives and provide better education and healthcare for their children. Considering these we can conclude that the families of gulf migrants from Kerala are stable. At the same time on the flip side the emotional and psychological price they have to pay, especially the gulf wives, to maintain the family stability and to keep the household running are cannot be overlooked. The days of loneliness they face due to the absence of their spouses and independently taking the responsibility of the household are often not recognised. Their insecurities as they have to go through the scrutinising eyes of the society and constant worries about the future including the children’s health and education are often unheard.  Even though on the surface they are projected as increased income families running smoothly, the improved lifestyle cannot be seen as the lone criteria for family stability. The very psychological strain and stress they undergo to keep up the family bond is in itself a sign of instability.

References

Gulati, L. (1983). Male Migration to Middle East and the Impact on the Family: Some Evidence from Kerala. Economic and Political Weekly, 2217-2226.

Heringa, A. M. (2010). Impact of male migration on women's mobility. In S. I. Rajan, India Migration Report 2010 Governance and Labor Migration (pp. 217-242). Noida: Routledge.

Rajan, S. I. (2010). India Migration Report 2010 Governance and Labor Migration. Noida: Routledge.

Zachariah, K. C., & Rajan, S. I. (2013). Diaspora in Kerala's Development. Delhi: Daanish Books.

Zachariah, K., & Rajan, S. I. (2012). Kerala's Gulf Connection, 1998-2011 Economic and Social Impacts of Migration. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.