Women Workers on the Move in South Asia: Shifting Identities in Segmented Labour Markets

Global evidence has shown that the incomes and working conditions of immigrant populations in general, and migrant women in particular, are different from those of local male workers due to discrimination based on ethnicity and gender. Against this background, this paper explores the segmented nature of the labour market for migrant women in the informal sector within South Asia. The paper finds that migrant women from India, Nepal and Bangladesh face discrimination based on their regional, ethnic, geographical, linguistic and religious identities as they seek to enter the highly segmented informal labour market in India. By comparing the labour market experiences of forty-five migrant women across four Indian states, this paper shows that the historical, social and cultural proximity among countries in the South Asian region leads to different types of segmentation and integration in the informal labour market in India. The fluidity of identities in the South Asian region is marked by ethno-linguistic, social and religious commonalities that lead to complexities in determining labour-market positions. It is observed that migrant women within the region have to navigate through a triple-layered segmentation emerging from their identities as migrants and women, and due to contestations about their national identity.