The South-to-North Migration of Women 1

Abstract

This article challenges the conventional wisdom that, since the circa 1974 discontinuation of policies encouraging temporary labor migration, female migration has significantly outnumbered male migration. Drawing on data from Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, the article shows that the proportion of women in gross immigration is lower when the flows originate in developing rather than in developed countries. Women outnumber men only in terms of net migration. Each receiving country has its own variations on these generalizations, with the chief variables being the receiving countries’ admission policies and the stage in migration history of the expatriate population.