Family Ties and Economic Stability Concerns of Migrant Labour Families in Jordan

Bibliographic Data

ID9953932
AuthorsMohammad Kamiar (Florida State College at Jacksonville, corresponding author), M S Kamiar, Hamidi Ismail (0000-0003-2582-0884, Amman Arab University), H F Ismail
Year1991
Volume29
Issue4
Pages561-572
Publication date1991-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Migration (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7985 • E-ISSN: 1468-2435
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2435.1991.tb01040.x
PMID12285111
OpenAlexW2147854939
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited11

74 labor migrant families from various socioeconomic classes in Amman, Jordan were interviewed to examine changes in relationships among family members, extended family, and neighbors and their concerns about economic stability in the host country, Jordan, and the world market. Another purpose was to determine how current migration policies of the Arab oil-producing countries which prohibit labor migrants from bringing their families to the host country affect labor migration among families. The families consisted of either those who did or did not accompany the labor migrant. Overall labor migration affected unaccompanied families more than accompanied families, e.g., only 19% of the unaccompanied families reported increased family unity compared with 56% of accompanied families. Problems within unaccompanied families increased in 43% of the cases but in only 6% of the accompanied families. Many of these problems resulted in children dropping out of school which reflected the control fathers had within the family, separation, or divorce. Yet labor migration reduced family ties with extended family members and neighbors almost equally for both groups. Accompanied families were not as concerned about economic stability in Jordan as unaccompanied families (38% vs. 50%). Perhaps these families tended not to invest remittances received from the labor migrants working in Arab oil-producing countries in Jordan. Both groups were quite concerned about the economic stability in the host countries (66% and 72%, respectively) and the world market (59% and 62%, respectively), however. Since family unity suffers when families do not accompany labor migrants, it is suggested that oil-producing nations that depend on foreign labor should guarantee family unity as a human right

Affect (linguistics · Demographic economics · Developing country · Economic growth · Economic stability · Economics · Family ties · Genealogy · Population · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Demography · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · History · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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