(In observance of the International Migrants Day)
Gender discrimination, combined with migrant status, can make access to appropriate employment harder for female migrants. Employment tends to be segregated and migrant women are often pushed into low-skilled and traditionally female occupations, such as domestic work or garment factory work. Even when women with secondary or higher education migrate, women struggle to find jobs appropriate for their qualifications. “The OECD indicates that much of the growth in the employment rates of migrant women occurs in low-skilled occupations and that qualified migrant women face much larger gaps in employment and occupational attainment than their counterparts born in their country of residence.”
A recent Gallup study surveyed 19,000 adults in former Soviet republics. The results indicate that the majority of men and women migrants improve their economic situation. However, in general migrants are less likely to work in their main profession abroad, and women migrants even less so. Female migrants reported fewer benefits than males in several respects, including improving their professional qualifications and job prospects back at home, where the gender gap is double digits.