Gender, Family and Migration between Urban and Rural Areas in Coastal Ghana: An Event History Analysis

Holly E. Reed, Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Catherine S. Andrzejewski, Principia International

This paper uses life history calendar data from Ghana and event history methods to examine migration for men and women, focusing on four specific migration types: rural-urban, rural-rural, urban-urban, and urban-rural. We examine how key determinants of migration—including education, employment, marital status, and childbearing—differ by sex. We find that, as expected, women are less mobile than men overall, but that educated women are more likely to move (particularly to urban areas) than their male counterparts. Moreover, employment in the prior year is less of a deterrent to migration among women. While childbearing has a negative effect on migration, this impact is surprisingly stronger for men than for women, perhaps because women’s search for childcare promotes migration. These results demonstrate the benefits of a Life History Calendar and suggest that migration research should further examine men’s and women’s mobility as it relates to both human capital and household and family dynamics.