Gendered differences in family reunion motivations, female-breadwinning status and spousal gender relations in young African migrant households in Hong Kong
Social Transformations in Chinese Societies
ISSN: 1871-2673
Article publication date: 25 January 2023
Issue publication date: 7 May 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about gender relations in young African migrant families residing in Hong Kong (HK). This study aims to present a first-hand account of daily lived experiences of African international doctoral student couples residing in HK, with special emphases on their Africa–HK migratory motivations, perceptions of female-breadwinning status, the effects of HK Immigration policy on marital power structures and the influence of spousal relative statuses (“breadwinner” versus “dependent”) on couples gender role performances and decision-making participations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used ethnographic method involving several indoor family visits, non-participant observations and 21 in-depth interviews in six African student families. Fieldnotes were taken and interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and interpreted using thematic content analysis.
Findings
Couples, especially dependent men, had a hard time deciding to migrate to HK for family reunion, unlike dependent women who willingly resigned to join their husbands in HK. Among the male dependents, the main reasons for migrating included anticipated economic returns, while women migrated in response to neolocal cultural expectations. Overall, patriarchy persisted – while men had the final say over key household decision-making domains, women remained primary performers of household chores, but manifested little bargaining power, restraining husband’s ability to spend family income when they are the family’s sole-earners. Women’s relative breadwinning status had very minimal significant impact.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of HK’s immigration policy on married African students’ migration motivations and the effects of female-breadwinning status on spousal gender relations in HK’s African student migrant households.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author hereby appreciates the supports and helpful comments received from Professor Ching Kwan Lee (The award-winning author of “The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor, and Foreign Investment in Africa”) and fellow colleagues at the Public Ethnography classes taken at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (in 2019 and 2020), from which the seed of this study was conceived, planted and nurtured. He is also thankful to his home supervisors at the Department of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University, for their moral supports – Associate Professor Adam K. L. Cheung and Professor Gina LAI. Special thanks to The Academy of Hong Kong Studies (AHKS) for accepting this paper for oral presentation at their 2021 conference at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and for recommending submission to STICS. Sincere appreciation also goes to his research subjects for their patience, friendship and sincere discussions about the private spheres for public ethnographic inquiry with him. Many thanks also the two anonymous peer reviewers and the editors at STICS for their helpful comments in making this paper better. Final thanks to his wife Gbemisola Olabanke, children Daniel and Joshua, for letting hubby and daddy do this, in the diaspora. Thank you all and God's blessings.
Grant numbers and/or funding information: The author has not applied for nor received any grants for the authorship or publication of this manuscript.
Citation
Ola, B.E. (2024), "Gendered differences in family reunion motivations, female-breadwinning status and spousal gender relations in young African migrant households in Hong Kong", Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/STICS-01-2022-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited