The impact of hosting refugees on the intra-household allocation of tasks: A gender perspective

Social Science Seminars

Time: Thursday 29th November 2018, 18:15 

Venue: Mawby Pavilion, Rewley House

Abstract

The impact of hosting refugees on the intra-household allocation of tasks: A gender perspective

This presentation discusses the impacts of refugees on the hosting populations. This is a growing literature and previous studies have looked at the impacts on labour markets, welfare, subjective wellbeing, health, housing etc. This particular study takes a step further and examines whether the gendered impacts of hosting refugees by looking at whether the presence of refugees alters the intra-household allocation of tasks across genders in the hosting population. Using panel data (pre- and post-refugee inflow) from Kagera, a rural region of Tanzania, the study finds that the refugee shock led to women being less likely to engage in employment outside the household and more likely to engage in household chores relative to men. This is probably the result of the environmental degradation that accompanied the arrival of refugees and the additional competition for natural resources such as wood and water. However, the results differ by (pre-shock) literacy and maths skill. For women who could read and perform simple written mathematical operations the refugee shock resulted in a higher likelihood of engaging in outside employment. On the other hand, higher exposure to the refugee shock resulted in illiterate women being more likely to engage in farming and household chores.

Speaker

Dr Isabel Ruiz

Dr Isabel Ruiz is the Fellow and Tutor in Economics at Harris Manchester College. Her research focuses on the economics of migration with a particular interest on forced migration.  Recent work includes exploring the impacts of hosting refugees and refugee repatriation in the Great Lakes region of Africa. She has also been exploring the labour market outcomes of refugees in the United Kingdom as part of the Labour Market Integration of Refugees in the UK project financed by the Nuffield Foundation.