Premium
Returning Home: The Middle‐Income Trap and Gendered Norms in Thailand
Author(s) -
Le Mare Ann,
Promphaking Buapun,
Rigg Jonathan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of international development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.533
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1328
pISSN - 0954-1748
DOI - 10.1002/jid.3064
Subject(s) - demographic economics , investment (military) , balance (ability) , work (physics) , value (mathematics) , sociology , economics , economic growth , labour economics , political science , psychology , politics , mechanical engineering , neuroscience , machine learning , computer science , law , engineering
We personalise the middle‐income trap by exploring the experiences of migrants from north‐east Thailand, most of whom return to their natal villages as a result of family decisions based on more than achieving higher incomes. Whereas men are largely content, women have to balance a range of roles because of prescribed gender norms. Increased education and migration did not lead to higher value work on their return because of lack of investment and opportunity, but also because of gender norms and relationships that reflect rather than challenge the norms that would allow women (and men) to develop new employment opportunities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.