To Be, or Not to Be: Rural Women's Migration Decisions

This study seeks to identify the determinants of rural women's migration decisions with a sample of 335 migrant women and 204 nonmigrant women in sixteen cities of the Yangtze delta in 2006. We study these determinants from two dimensions: individual factors and household factors. The logistic model analysis reveals that education, especially the education of their children, is the most significant determinant of rural women's migration decision. It is suggested that the government should give priority to the education of migrant women and their children.