Husbands’ International Labour Migration and the Change of Wives’ Position among the Left-Behind in Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the effects of husbands’ international labour migration on wives’ position among the left-behind wives in rural Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study conducted in Tuker bazar Union Parishad under Sylhet Sadar upazilla in Sylhet district, Bangladesh and data was collected through face to face interview. Two stage cluster sampling technique was applied to select the 220 migrant’s families. About 220 comparable non-migrant families were selected by using stratified random sampling method. Binary logistic regression was applied to measure the effects of husbands’ international labour migration on women decision making role and women autonomy. The findings reveal that men’s labour migration was positively associated with women decision making role and women autonomy. So, male international migration increases the women decision making role and autonomy in rural areas.

Keywords: International migration, Decision Making, Autonomy, Bangladesh.