Using the 1983 NDS migration history data, this chapter investigates the migration pattern and economic activity of women by types of migration, to gain more insight into how female migration is associated with economic activity, with focus on first-time rural-urban migrants. This chapter also looks into any change in female migration pattern and economic activity. An examination of whether migration was direct, stage or repeat moves, and migrants' duration of residence in the destination is envisaged to provide a better understanding of the migration process. Whether occupational mobility occurs after migration and in what occupations migrants concentrate are the concerns of this chapter.
Conventionally, a move (or geographic mobility) is defined as any change in a person's usual place of residence (Morrison, 1972: 4). Moves may be classified into two: local - moves within the same community, and migration - moves between communities. Defined as such, the difficulty in defining community remains.
In this chapter, a move is used in the same sense as migration, with the
barangay representing a community. The NDS definition differs from the 1980 Census in that in the NDS the time of migration does not have a fixed reference period.
Instead, the time of migration is the month and year the woman actually migrated. A migrant is a person who has moved after the age of 15 where such move involved a more or less permanent change of residence, meaning the person has stayed or intends to stay for at least three consecutive months in the place of destination.
In the 1983 NDS, an area was classified as city, poblacion (town centre) or other than city or poblacion. Urban areas as used here include cities and poblaciones\
rural areas are places other than cities or poblaciones. For purposes of the analysis in this chapter, migration streams may be classified according to the level of administrative boundary crossed or the type of area (meaning, urban/rural sector or city/municipality/other than city or municipality) of the origin and destination. Migrants who crossed barangay boundaries in the same municipality are called intra municipal migrants. This is the lowest level and possibly the shortest distance stream for analytical purposes. Migrants who crossed municipal boundaries in the same province are called intra-provincial migrants. Migrants who crossed provincial boundaries in the same region are intra-regional migrants. The highest level and possibly the longest distance migration stream is that of migrants who crossed regional boundaries in the country, that is, inter-regional migrants. Collectively, intra municipal, intra-provincial, intra-regional and inter-regional migrants are called inter boundary migrants for purposes of this study. Another classification is made for migration streams between urban and rural areas, which are: urban-urban, urban-rural, rural-urban, and rural-rural. Collectively, these are called inter-sectoral streams.
The issue regarding the criteria for analytically distinguishing migration within countries from that between countries and other types of migration have been addressed elsewhere. For example, Barclay (1958: 245) and Bogue (1959: 486) argued that the distinction is 'purely one of convenience for classifying migrants'. Others made some qualifications in terms of differences in distance (Shryock, 1964: 10), cultural, linguistic and political barriers (Thomlinson, 1965: 223), motivation and causations (Wrong, 1967: 95). Goldscheider (1971), on the other hand, argued that the
implications of the boundary crossed, distance, barriers and heterogeneity are important for distinguishing between types of migration.
Intra-municipal and intra-provincial streams may be indicative of a more conservative migration associated with family, marriage or housing relocation. Because of the likely longer distance to traverse in the intra-regional and inter-regional streams, these streams reflect independence among migrants and disparity in economic structure of the highest level of administrative areas. On the other hand, urbanward streams are indicative of the economic transformations and shifts in the location and composition of economic activity (Morrison, 1972: 6) while ruralward streams represent the strength of family ties and diffusion of modernisation.
Capturing the migration history of individuals was an innovation of the 1983 National Demographic Survey, which is useful for analysing migration in the Philippines. For purposes of recording migration histories over a person's lifetime, only moves crossing well-defined boundaries in the country after age 15 were considered. This temporal constraint was set on the assumption that decisions to migrate during childhood were mainly made by parents or more mature relatives and the person develops autonomy in decision-making later. In the case of migration, it was assumed that a woman can decide or at least participate in the decision-making process after the age of 15 years.
Migration-history can provide data not usually collected in censuses and most surveys. Analysis can be done on: the number of moves taken by each migrant, timing of migration and migration patterns and correlates at various time periods and changes over time. Alternative techniques for describing migration rates and patterns and for analysing types of moves, migration determinants and individual-level consequences using the migration-history and life-history data have been discussed elsewhere (DaVanzo 1982).
The choice of technique used in this chapter was dictated by the availability of the data from the migration history. In particular, the migration module of the 1983
NDS does not include non-migrants. This limits comparison between nonmigrants and migrants.