This dissertation examines the associations among the family life course, labor migration, and marital processes. Existing literature shows that moving for work threatens marital quality and even increases the risk of marital dissolution. Scholars have also found, albeit indirectly, that marriage and parenthood greatly limit individuals’ mobility. These literatures, however, are embedded in larger assumptions about marriage and the nature of migration, and are thus limited in their generalizability. In this study, I advance current understandings of how migration relates to family life, particularly the marital relationship, both theoretically and methodologically. I aim to identify specific conditions under which we would, and would not, expect these results. I leverage unique data and produce more precise estimates of two under-studied relationships - the family life course and spouses’ marital quality, respectively, on men’s subsequent migration – as well as of the effects of temporary migration on spouses’ marital quality.Theoretically, I draw on streams of prior research – the life course, historical gender norms, spousal decision-making processes, and social support – to develop a framework to understand this association. I then apply this framework to the rural, agricultural setting of Nepal, where the cultural conditions are similar to those in Western settings previously examined, but the social organization of work has shifted, from one close to home toward international markets. These conditions - patriarchal and family-oriented marriage norms; significantly higher international wages relative to those local; and strict migrant-monitoring systems in receiving countries – create expectations that family-related provider roles will increase men’s likelihood of migration; husbands in higher quality marriages will be more likely to migrate; and husbands’ labor migration actually improves spouses’ marital quality.Methodologically, I leverage four analytic tools in order to account for the highly selective nature of family and migration. First, the Chitwan Valley Family Study is a longitudinal data set, which tracks family and migration events among a representative sample of nearly 10,000 individuals in rural Nepal, no matter where study members move. The second is measurement of a broad array of physical, social, and human capital and demographic characteristics, prior to men’s marriage and risk of migration. The third is the ability to link individuals’ reports of marriage and migration to those of their spouses. The fourth is repeated measures of multiple dimensions of marital quality among the same married individuals over time (enabled because Nepalese marriages rarely end in divorce). These tools present the rare opportunity to test these hypotheses regarding family, marriage, and migration among a population in which the majority are married.Results show a number of patterns. One, husbands and fathers are significantly more likely to subsequently migrate than single/never married men and men who have no children, respectively. Second, husbands in higher quality marriages have greater odds of subsequently migrating than husbands in lower quality marriages. Third, controlling for marital quality assessed prior to migration, the temporary absence of a migrant husband does not negatively impact spouses’ marital quality, although improvements do not benefit husbands and wives equally. In sum, this dissertation critiques existing assumptions about the associations among family life, marriage, and migration by identifying specific conditions under which earlier results do not hold. Additionally, it utilizes unique panel data to produce more accurate estimates of specific relationships previously under-studied, as well as changes in spouses’ marital quality.
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Spouses Crossing Borders: Husbands? International Migration and the Marital Relationship
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