An Empirical Analysis of Men, Women, and Gender in Mexico* by

The migration literature agrees on several key factors that motivate individual decisions to move: human capital investments, socioeconomic status, familial considerations, social networks, and local opportunities in origins relative to opportunities abroad. Yet further analysis of the social forces underlying these relationships reveals interwoven gender relations and expectations that fundamentally differentiate migration patterns, in particular who migrates and why. Data analysis of 14,000 individuals in 43 Mexican villages reveals several mechanisms through which the effects of gender play out in the migration process. Results suggest that although migrant networks provide support to new men and women migrants alike, high female employment rates reduce the likelihood that men, but not women, begin migrating. Education effects also emphasize the importance of examining gender differences. In keeping with the literature on Mexican migration, I find that men are negatively selected to migrate, but, conversely, higher education increases migration among women. My findings also question the portrayal of women as associational migrants, disclosing positive migration risks for never-married and previouslymarried women. Reframing the Migration Question

CDE Working Paper No. 2001-10The Effects of Migration, Household Income, and Gender on Mexican Child Health

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support from the National Science Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. In addition, we are grateful to El Colegio de San Luis, A.C., who assisted in the collection of these data. The Effects of Migration, Household Income, and Gender on Mexican Child Health Despite worldwide progress in the eradication of poor health outcomes, persistent inequalities remain. In most countries, the poor bear the burden of disease. This is certainly true in Mexico, where inequities in wealth, gender, and ethnicity have polarized health outcomes. For example, infant mortality has dramatically improved since the beginning of the 20th century in Mexico but notable variation by socioeconomic status remains. Poor rural populations have infant mortality rates that are much higher than the rate for the nation as a whole (53 vs. 30 deaths per thousand live births in 1990) (CONAPO 1995). Similar socioeconomic differences exist with respect to the reemergence of epidemic diseases once thought to be controlled or eradicated, such as dengue fever, malaria, and cholera (Frenk et al. 1989), and the poor also have higher rates of infectious disease, malnutrition, noncommunicable diseases, and injury (Bobadilla et al. 1993)