Our Daughters and Wives Are Gone: Examining the Socio-Economic Impact of Female Internal Migration on the Left-Behind Family in the East Mamprusi District of Ghana

People move out of their areas of domicile for various reasons, including work, study, relaxation and reuniting with their families. Northern Ghana has witnessed a paradigm shift in its migration history, as an increasing number of women and young girls engage in rural-urban migration, either independently or by family decision, due to widespread poverty emanating from limited arable land and high female unemployment rates. The rise in female migration (feminization) results in a considerable number of left-behind population in the rural areas, including children, elderly parents, spouses (husbands) and other household members. Despite the gravity of the number of left-behind, the numerous scholarly kinds of literature on female migration have tended to favor the vulnerabilities of migrants in urban destinations at the expense of the socioeconomic effects on those left behind. Hence, the implications of out-migration cannot be glossed over. The primary objective of the study was to explore the impact of female rural-urban migration on migrants’ left-behind family members in the East Mamprusi District in Northern Ghana. The study adopted a qualitative research design. The methods of data collection included in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, key informant interviews and document review. The field research tools included the interview guide, a semi-structured questionnaire, a voice recorder and a field notebook. Data analysis was through thematic and content analysis. Descriptive tools such as frequency distribution, tables and diagrams (bar charts, pie charts) were used to ensure clearer and comprehensive interpretation and discussions. The study revealed that caregivers, especially for the left-behind children, were overburdened with domestic responsibilities and could not provide adequate motivation and supervision, let alone meet children’s psychological, emotional and physical needs, resulting in behavioral problems. Also, daily activities among children increased, resulting in child labor and girls have been more severely affected than boys. Interestingly, the left-behind had better clothes and learning materials due to the positive effect of remittances compared with non-left-behind children, but the academic performance of the two groups is relatively the same. Also, large shares of remittance income were committed to household consumption, which improved health, education, food and nutrition of both children and elderly parents. Additionally, remittances helped relax household budget constraints. The study demonstrates that female migration brought about change in gender roles for males and females, as traditional gender roles of men as breadwinners also involve domestic caregiving responsibilities and female migrant’s attained economic independence by remitting for household consumption. It also shows limited and ineffective communication between spouses due to spatial separation, which created a strong sense of psychological/emotional imbalances such as loneliness, sexual repression and extramarital affairs, resulting in marital instability and marriage breakdown. The research recommends the official recognition of the left behind population with corresponding social support services to ameliorate the negative effects of migration, establishment of cottage industries in the rural areas to help reduce the rate of forced internal migration, land tenure reforms and inheritance to allow women and girls unfettered access to land and family properties to ensure social and economic parity.