Volume 39 - Article 44 | Pages 1181–1226  

Contemporary female migration in Ghana: Analyses of the 2000 and 2010 Censuses

By Samantha R. Lattof, Philomena Nyarko, Ernestina Coast, Tiziana Leone

Abstract

Background: Knowledge of female migration patterns is scant despite increased recognition and reporting of the feminization of migration. Recent data on female internal migration in Ghana challenges historical assumptions that underestimated female migration.

Objective: This study presents the first detailed comparative analyses of female migration using microdata from Ghana’s censuses (2000 and 2010) and exploits this national data to understand the gendered dimensions of migration.

Methods: Secondary analyses use direct and indirect methods to describe the scale, type, and demographic structure of contemporary female migration; assess the distribution of female migrants across age and geography; and estimate net internal female migration.

Results: Excluding international migrants, census microdata identified 31.1% of females as internal migrants in 2000 and 37.4% of females as internal migrants in 2010. Working-age migration was particularly pronounced in 2010, reinforcing economic opportunity as a likely driver of migration for both sexes. Female migrants were significantly more likely than female nonmigrants to reside in urban areas and work for pay, profit, or family gain. By 2010, married women were less likely to migrate than peers who had never married. Net out-migration exceeded net in-migration in eight of Ghana’s ten regions.

Contribution: Our analyses expand the evidence base on contemporary female migration and refute the outdated stereotype that girls and women do not participate in migration. The prominence of the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions as destinations for female migrants suggests that interventions are needed in Ghana’s more rural regions to reduce poverty and develop greater economic opportunities for girls and women.

Author's Affiliation

• Samantha R. Lattof - London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom EMAIL
• Philomena Nyarko - Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana EMAIL
• Ernestina Coast - London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom EMAIL
• Tiziana Leone - London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Collecting data from migrants in Ghana: Lessons learned using respondent-driven sampling
Volume 38 - Article 36

The quality of demographic data on older Africans
Volume 34 - Article 5

The power of the interviewer: A qualitative perspective on African survey data collection
Volume 28 - Article 27

Is fertility stalling in Jordan?
Volume 26 - Article 13

Fertility and union dissolution in Brazil: an example of multi-process modelling using the Demographic and Health Survey calendar data
Volume 17 - Article 7

Disciplining anthropological demography
Volume 16 - Article 16

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

The dynamic role of household structure on under-5 mortality in southern and eastern sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 49 - Article 11    | Keywords: child mortality, Health and Demographic Surveillance System, household structure, sub-Saharan Africa

Geographic proximity to siblings in older adulthood
Volume 49 - Article 7    | Keywords: geographical proximity, older adults, population, register data, Sweden

Comparative evidence of years lived with reproductive-age morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (2010‒2019)
Volume 49 - Article 6    | Keywords: life expectancy, maternal morbidities, reproductive age, sub-Saharan Africa

Estimation of confidence intervals for decompositions and other complex demographic estimators
Volume 49 - Article 5    | Keywords: bootstrap, confidence interval, decomposition, demography, Monte-Carlo simulation, standard error

The gender gap in schooling outcomes: A cohort study of young men and women in India
Volume 48 - Article 33    | Keywords: cohort studies, educational attainment, gender, India, secondary education