Socio-Cultural Dispositions and Wellbeing of the Women Left Behind: A Case of Migrant Households in Nepal

Hom Gartaula (), Leontine Visser () and Anke Niehof ()

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2012, vol. 108, issue 3, 420 pages

Abstract: The concept of wellbeing is gaining popularity in the study of quality of life and cultural significance of living. The paper aims to contribute to our understanding of objective and subjective wellbeing by exploring the perceptions of women left behind by out-migrating husbands on their quality of life in a transnational social field. The paper uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Its primary focus is on the life stories of the four women left behind by their migrant husbands, complementing by quantitative data obtained from a survey among 277 households. Taking an example from Nepal’s eastern terai, the paper shows that additional income from remittances has increased the objective wellbeing of the women left behind, but it may not have increased their subjective wellbeing. Hence, it is concluded that improved objective wellbeing of a woman does not necessarily translate into her (improved) subjective wellbeing. The subjective experiences are rather complex, multi-faceted and context specific depending on the family situation, socio-cultural disposition and prior economic situation of the actors involved. Copyright The Author(s) 2012

Keywords: Objective wellbeing; Subjective wellbeing; Male out-migration; Women left behind; Rural Nepal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-011-9883-9

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