Women of a Lesser Cost

This study explores the links among women's employment, migration and household organization. Female labour-force participation has long been recognized as depending on a broad spectrum of social, economic and demographic factors. Drawing on over 400 interviews with workers, households, and employers in the Philippine Visayas, this book provides insights for theories about women's work, with a focus on implications for gender roles and relations. Looking at three activities critical to the generation of foreign exchange - export manufacturing, international tourism, and sex work - it provides a systematic investigation of the ways in which women's incorporation into different sectors is affected by their social, demographic and economic circumstances, asking whether different jobs are associated with new migration and household patterns. The authors show that despite the embeddedness of gender inequalities in all these spheres, Filipino women do stand to gain some benefit from increased demand for their labour.