Rural–urban migration, economic transition, and status of female industrial workers in Lao PDR

Abstract

Abstract Economic and political changes in formerly socialist economies affect migration patterns and gender relations in complex ways. The consequences of transition from planned to market economies for men and women, respectively, are manifested both in gendered migration patterns and gendered urban labour markets, where young migrant women now constitute an important part of the ‘globalised’ industrial working class of Southeast Asian cities. This paper analyses female rural–urban migration to industrial work in Lao PDR, one of Southeast Asia's smallest transition economies. Since the implementation of the New Economic Mechanism in Lao PDR in 1986, a process of feminisation of rural–urban migration has started and female employment in industries in Vientiane Capital increased. The paper highlights some of the consequences of economic transition for female rural–urban migrants, focusing on changing gender roles and women's status as industrial workers, both inside and outside factory gates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.