Individual versus Household Migration Decision Rules: Gender Differences in Intentions to Migrate in South Africa

Bina Gubhaju, Pennsylvania State University
Gordon F. De Jong, Pennsylvania State University

The objective of this paper is to analyze how individually-held own-future versus alternative household well-being migration decision rules effect the intentions to migrate of male and female adults in South Africa. Drawing on the neoclassical and new household economic as well as gender and migration literatures, data from the Causes of Migration in South Africa national migration survey are used to test gender-specific regression models of intentions to migrate. The results show significant and gender differentiated effects of migration decision rules for both short and longer-term time-horizon migration intentions. The results also document important differences in marital status, value-expectancy, life satisfaction, human capital, family migration pressure, and demographic determinants of migration intentions within gender models.