Abstract
M.A. (Sociology)
Internal labour migration is a historical livelihood strategy for most African households as they attempt to address unemployment and everyday survival. Labour migration is an important avenue for households’ livelihoods but it also bears negative effects on already existing livelihoods and on the composition of families and the upbringing of children. To understand the effects of internal labour migration on the livelihood strategies, constitution and maintenance of households in Madibeng, North West Province, the qualitative research approach was used. Through purposive and snowball sampling methods eleven labour migrant households were identified to participate in the study through in-depth face to face interviews. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis.
The historicisation of internal labour migration results in labour migration becoming a generational phenomenon in the concerned households. This generational internal labour migration contributes to the lack of access to higher education for the next generation being the children of the labour migrants. Thus the ferminisation of a young unskilled labour migrant was found to be an emerging phenomenon. The majority of these young labour migrants are not consistent with remitting while some do not remit at all. This then puts pressure on the survival and livelihoods of the households left behind by the labour migrant.
The child support grant is then highly contested in these households. The contestation is between the recipient of the child grant, the grandmother and the young labour migrant mother who takes the child grant along to the city for her own survival. Thus the study recommends that further investigation in the ferminisation of internal labour migration and the real life experiences of these young labour migrant women in the cities, is needed.
Lastly, the study found that labour migration as a historic livelihood strategy bears negative effects for the children growing up without their parents. According to the guardian’s observation, parental absence creates anxiety for children of labour migrants and thus this affects their social, educational and emotional development.