Migration and the left behind: What about men?

Theme: Migration and Development

Migration and the left behind: What about men?

Outline: Studies addressing the effects of migration on the left behind mainly focus on women, children and to the lesser extent, the elderly. But what about men? With the increasing feminization of migration around the world and specifically in certain regions, men are being increasingly left behind to often find themselves in new roles as caregivers and not as breadwinners. This study looks specifically at men left behind and the effects on masculinity and coping strategies. There will be two main areas in which this study is focused: (1) men left behind and the effects on masculinity and coping strategies and (2) how migrant men experience being separated from family. This study will be carried out in collaboration with the Transnational Families theme and will focus specifically on the migrant sending context and the effects on human development there. The project builds on previous work in Moldova and Georgia where migration has become highly feminized as well as in African countries where to date there has been little research on this subject.

Project leaders: Melissa Siegel (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance & UNU-MERIT), Valentina Mazzucato (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences). Other UM participants: Ronald Skeldon (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance & UNU-MERIT), Hein de Haas (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance & UNU-MERIT). Societal partners: Moldovan, Georgian, Ghanaian, Nigerian and Angolan governments.