MIGRATION OF FEMALE MIGRANT WORKERS (TKW): A STUDY OF THEIR MULTI-ROLES AND CHILDREN IDENTITY FORMATION
Abstract
The migration of female migrant workers (TKW) has had complex implications for family structure, caregiving systems, and the identity of left-behind children. This study explores the dual role of TKW as both breadwinners and educators of their children, as well as its impact on children's identity formation. Using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method, this research analyzes previous studies on female migrant workers and long-distance caregiving strategies. The findings reveal that children from migrant families experience changes in intergenerational family relationships and face challenges in developing their social, cultural, and emotional identities. Although left-behind children exhibit higher resilience levels than those from non-migrant households, they often experience a caregiving deficit and a decline in psychological well-being. Additionally, gender-based caregiving patterns have undergone transformation due to mothers assuming the primary breadwinner role. This study highlights the importance of incorporating children's perspectives into migration policies and family welfare programs to create a more sustainable migration strategy.
Keywords: Female Migrant Workers, Long-Distance Caregiving, Child Identity, Dual Roles, Transnational Families.
References
Acedera, K. A., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2019). ‘Making time’: Long-distance marriages and the temporalities of the transnational family. Current Sociology, 67(2), 250–272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392118792927
Affrida, E. N. (2017). Strategi Ibu dengan Peran Ganda dalam Membentuk Kemandirian Anak Usia Pra Sekolah. Jurnal Obsesi : Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 1(2), 114. https://doi.org/10.31004/obsesi.v1i2.24
Alipio, C., Lu, M. C. W., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2015). Asian children and transnational migration. Children’s Geographies, 13(3), 255–262.
Anshori, A. (2018). Dampak peran ganda suami terhadap keharmonisan keluarga Tenaga Kerja Wanita (TKW) prespektif gender: Studi di Desa Pagelaran Kecamatan Pagelaran Kabupaten Malang.
Asis, M. M. B. (2006). Living With Migration. Asian Population Studies, 2(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730600700556
Barglowski, K. (2023). Transnational parenting in settled families: social class, migration experiences and child rearing among Polish migrants in Germany. Journal of Family Studies, 29(2), 893–910. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2021.2007786
Bärnighausen, K., Berner-Rodoreda, A., McGowan, M., Reñosa, M. D., Mtaita, C., & Neuhann, F. (2024). ‘You Can Get That Person on ART but You Can’t Give Them Back Their Social System’: A Qualitative Analysis of Voluntary Assisted Partner Notification for HIV for Marginalised and Vulnerable Populations. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, 23, 1–11.
Bryceson, D. F. (2019). Transnational families negotiating migration and care life cycles across nation-state borders. In Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (Vol. 45, Issue 16, pp. 3042–3064). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1547017
Cebolla-Boado, H., González Ferrer, A., & Nuhoḡlu Soysal, Y. (2021). It is all about “Hope”: evidence on the immigrant optimism paradox. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(2), 252–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1745254
Dwyer, C. (2018). Introduction: gendered mobilities and transnational identities. Gender, Place & Culture, 25(1), 80–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2017.1414035
Fu, Y., Asis, M. M. B., Sukamdi, Zhou, X., & Jordan, L. P. (2025). A life course approach to examine cumulative impacts of parental migration on children’s psychological well-being and education in Southeast Asia. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/DEV0001879
Graham, E., & Jordan, L. P. (2011). Migrant parents and the psychological well-being of left-behind children in Southeast Asia. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(4), 763–787. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00844.x
Guerrero, S. H., & et al. (2000). Gender and Migration: FOcus on FIlipino Women in International Labor Migration.
Hafez, S., Munyati, B. M., Zeno, K., Gbozee, C. K. Z., Jusu, M., Reeves, M. S., Wesseh, C. S., Wiah, S. O., Alkhaldi, M., Johnson, K., & Subah, M. (2023). Examining the gender imbalance in the National Community Health Assistant Programme in Liberia: a qualitative analysis of policy and Programme implementation. Health Policy and Planning, 38(2), 181–191.
Hamilton, M., & Suthersan, B. (2021). Gendered moral rationalities in later life: Grandparents balancing paid work and care of grandchildren in Australia. Ageing and Society, 41(7), 1651–1672. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001855
Hanisch, S. (2020). Chinese migration to lesotho as a springboard toward a better future? The ambiguous social class positions of migrants’ children. Africa Today, 66(3–4), 44–64.
Hoang, L. A., Lam, T., Yeoh, B. S. A., & Graham, E. (2015). Transnational migration, changing care arrangements and left-behind children’s responses in South-east Asia. Children’s Geographies, 13(3), 263–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2015.972653
I, L. S. J., & B, S. (2021). Analysis of feminist concepts in Nalini Jameela’s the autobiography of a sex worker. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 17(2), 736–740. https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.51
Jordan, L. P., & Graham, E. (2012). Resilience and Well-Being Among Children of Migrant Parents in South-East Asia. Child Development, 83(5), 1672–1688. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01810.x
Kaźmierczak, M., & Karasiewicz, K. (2019). Making space for a new role–gender differences in identity changes in couples transitioning to parenthood. Journal of Gender Studies, 28(3), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1441015
Lam, T., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2019). Parental migration and disruptions in everyday life: reactions of left-behind children in Southeast Asia. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45(16), 3085–3104. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2018.1547022
Larrinaga-Bidegain, N., Gemignani, M., & Hernández-Albújar, Y. (2024). Parents who migrate without their children: Gendered and psychosocial reconfigurations of parenting in transnational families. Journal of Family Theory and Review.
Lee Atterberry, A. (2023). Return migration, parenting and the subcontinent: Parents and youths’ perspectives of life in India. The Emerald Handbook of Childhood and Youth in Asian Societies: Generations Between Local and Global Dynamics, 121–135. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-283-920231008
Maria J, & Rodriguez-Shadow. (2008). Penelitian terbaru tentang migrasi tenaga kerja perempuan internasional. www.DeepL.com/pro
Martinkėnė, G., & Kraniauskienė, S. (2023). Adulthood Identity Maps and Life Course Scenarios in the Context of Transnational Childhood Experiences. Filosofija, Sociologija, 34(4), 360–371. https://doi.org/10.6001/FIL-SOC.2023.34.4.3
Mu, Z., & Oh, E. (2023). Valuation of domestic work: Construction of stay-at-home motherhood among elite Chinese migrants in Singapore. Gender, Work and Organization. https://doi.org/10.1111/GWAO.13079
Owens-Schill, A., Peticca-Harris, A., Elias, S. R. S. T. A., & deGama, N. (2025). I am because I have to be: Exploring one mother-worker’s identity of the surrendered self through stories of mothering neurodiverse children. Gender, Work & Organization, 32(1), 161–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/GWAO.13139
Platt, M. (2018). Migration, Moralities and Moratoriums: Female Labour Migrants and the Tensions of Protectionism in Indonesia. Asian Studies Review, 42(1), 89–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2017.1408571
Purssell, E., & McCrae, N. (2020). How to Perform a Systematic Literature Review. How to Perform a Systematic Literature Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49672-2
Rani, A. M., & Chaudhary, P. (2024). Lives and sustenance of migrant Indian women in Indenture and COVID-19. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 7(5), 2024095–2024095.
Rodriguez, S., & Maria, J. (2009). Penelitian terbaru tentang migrasi tenaga kerja perempuan internasional. www.DeepL.com/pro
Rosiana, D. (n.d.). Mengatasi Konflik Peran Sebagai Karyawan Dan Ibu Rumah Tangga Pada Tenaga Kerja Wanita Di Indonesia.
Shimei, N. (2024). Participation, partnership, and sharing: Young women’s suggestions regarding social work practices with adolescent girls in the context of youth welfare and care. Child Abuse & Neglect, 107062. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CHIABU.2024.107062
Snyder, H. (2019a). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039
Snyder, H. (2019b). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JBUSRES.2019.07.039
Stephenson, K. M., Wahler, A., Berdine, D., McCormick-Cisse, M., Abdelsayed, S., & Kahn, L. S. (2025). “I’m not a bad mother:” the experience of stigma among mothers with substance use disorder in the criminal justice system. Women & Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2024.2437492
Tadesse, E., Gao, C., Khalid, S., & Diankun, J. (2025). The positive effect of parental migration on left-behind children’s academic performance in rural China: a systematic review. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/S12144-024-07252-2
Tang, Z., Zhao, L., & Zhou, X. (2020). A study on the key factors of labor migration and willingness to return to rural areas using anp: A case study of Western China. Revista de Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 69, 337–348. https://doi.org/10.33788/RCIS.69.22
Wibowo, D. E. (2011). Muwâzâh Peran Ganda Perempuan Dan Kesetaraan Gender (Vol. 3, Issue 1).
Williams Veazey, L. (2022a). Migrant mothers and the ambivalence of co-ethnicity in online communities. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(7), 1747–1763. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1782180
Williams Veazey, L. (2022b). Migrant mothers and the ambivalence of co-ethnicity in online communities. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(7), 1747–1763. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1782180
Yeoh, B. S. A., Somaiah, B. C., Lam, T., & Acedera, K. F. (2020). Doing Family in “Times of Migration”: Care Temporalities and Gender Politics in Southeast Asia. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 110(6), 1709–1725. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2020.1723397
Zhou, Q., Chen, M., Liang, J., Chen, Q., & Li, H. (2025). Parent–Child Online Interaction and the Well-Being of Children in Rural China: The Effects of Family Social Capital and Parental Migration. Child & Family Social Work, 0, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/CFS.13262
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Abstract views: 15
,
PDF Downloads: 8
