ABSTRACT:
Temporary migration, especially men moving to their place of work, was an
intrinsic feature of the former Apartheid system in South Africa. Since the
demise of Apartheid an increasing proportion of women have also been migrating
to their place of work, and oscillating between work place and home. Temporary
migration can be defined as oscillating migration between a home base and at
least one other place, usually for work, but also for other reasons like education.
This study demonstrates that in the Agincourt study population, in the rural
northeast of South Africa, adult female temporary migration is an increasing
trend. By conducting a survival analysis, the study evaluates the mortality
outcomes, specifically infant and child mortality rates, of children born to female
temporary migrants compared with children of non-migrant women. Based on the
findings presented we accept the null hypothesis that there is presently no
discernable impact (positive or negative) of maternal temporary migration on
infant and child mortality. There seems to be a slight protective factor associated
with mother’s migration when tested at a univariate level. However, through
multivariate analysis, it is shown that this advantage relates to the higher
education status of migrating mothers. When women become tertiary educated there is a survival advantage to their children and these women are also more
likely to migrate. The study highlights greater child mortality risks associated
with settled Mozambicans (former refugees) and unmarried mothers. Both of
these risk factors reflect the impact of high levels of social deprivation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4818 |
| Date | 15 May 2008 |
| Creators | Collinson, Mark Andrew |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1339916 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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