Are they forced out? : the migration decision-making of rural women migrants in contemporary China

This article is centred on the decision-making of rural women in their migration from rural areas to urban employment in contemporary China. Through the use of in-depth interviews with women migrants, their families and fellow villagers in both sending and receiving areas, the author investigate the factors and power behind rural women’s migration decision-making and examines the influence of gender and patriarchal factors on their decision-making process. The author argues that although the migration of both married and unmarried rural women to the cities seems to break down the traditional patterns and morals set for women, women's subordinate status and the patriarchal control over them remain intact. On the whole, women and women’s labour are in firm control of the Chinese patriarchal family and women's migration is directly and strongly influenced by their subordinate status. Their migration decision-making is still strongly controlled by their parents, in-laws and husbands