Borrowing concepts from the study of work and occupations as well as gender studies, this paper considers the social organization of migration as gendered work. It explores women's and men's contribution to two aspects of family resources needed to migrate: (a) jobs and the non-market exchanges involved in obtaining work, and (b) the support of kin. The data come from a study of 30 emigrant and non-emigrant families representing three social classes in Hong Kong. We find their “migration work” varies by social class and gender. Since the working class families depend on kin to get resources to emigrate, their “migration work” involves maintaining these kin ties, mainly in the job area. The lower middle class proffer advice to kin, and they view kin as an information source on topics including migration. For the affluent, middle-class who negotiate independently to emigrate, their “migration work” involves linking colleagues to the family.
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