Migrants’ experiences and stories: A gender analysis of urban poverty among young rural-urban migrants in Addis Ababa

Abstract

This research set out to explore the influence of gender as a social and cultural construct on the migration patterns of young Ethiopians and on the way in which they experience urban poverty. Ethiopia is traditionally a patriarchal society with persistent gender inequalities in which many young Ethiopians migrate each year from the rural areas to Addis Ababa. They leave their families, beloved ones and places of origin behind, while aiming to escape from poverty and societal constraints. Some youngsters succeed and find what they have been looking for: education, employment opportunities, freedom and improved living standards. Others struggle to survive each day, end up in poor circumstances and want to return back home. This research utilizes gender as a lens to explore the social and cultural inequalities which determine masculinity and femininity in Ethiopia and which underlie variations in the behavior, expectations, opportunities and constraints of men and women. These inequalities cause differences in the migratory movements of youngsters and in their experiences of urban poverty as both are gendered by nature. However, migration also contributes to the increased agency of migrants and to the alteration of traditional gender roles and relations. The capability approach of Amartya Sen has been used to assess poverty, because it allows capturing structures, such as gender, as well as the agency of migrants. Interviews with officials and the analysis of secondary data have contributed to a comprehensive contextual embedding of this research and to the enhanced understanding of the research concepts in the Ethiopian context. Furthermore, twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with rural-urban migrants aged between 12 and 30 years old of which the aim was to shed light on their unique stories and their subjectivities related to the research topics. Findings of this research confirm the existence of persistent gender inequalities in Ethiopia pertaining several aspects of society. These inequalities differently affect the opportunities and well-being outcomes of the male and female rural-urban migrants, but not solely. Other structural constraints in their environment, such as persistent poverty, barriers to education resulting in low educational achievements and the lack of available employment opportunities, also influence the direction of their lives and their experience of poverty.