Is Migration in Africa always a Household Decision? Consensus and Contestation in the Rural–Urban Migration Decisions of Ghanaian Women

Abstract

The dominant theoretical framework for analyzing migration in Africa rests on the assumption of cooperative intrahousehold decision making regarding the mobility of household members. This framework, applied to women’s migration, overlooks the varied decision-making processes underlying their mobility, and obscures their ability to act as purposeful agents in making decisions about migration. Drawing on a study of women’s rural–urban migration in Ghana, this article argues that women’s migration decisions exist on a continuum defined by the presence or absence of intrahousehold contestation and the degree of agency exercised by the migrants themselves. Consequently, household models of migration may not always be the appropriate theoretical framework for the analysis of women’s migration in this context. The findings presented have implications for economic analyses of women’s migration and remittances, for our understanding of migrant women’s capacity for agency, and for the design of effective policies to improve migration outcomes for women. HIGHLIGHTS The study directly elicits information from women about their migration decisions. Women’s migration is the outcome of complex decision-making processes. The dichotomy between household and individual models of migration ignores these complexities.