Rural-urban migration has been partly shaped by gender roles and relations; female migration often represents household strategy. The "feminization" of household headship, which so often results from demographic mobility, is not necessarily negative for women, as reflected in decisions to settle, more or less permanently, in receiving societies. \

Employment of migrant women as household labour has allowed affluent urban women to avoid renegotiating the domestic gender balance. With increased demand for female labour (as in South-East Asia) more women are migrating in search of employment. However women migrants face a greater burden in relation to access to employment, housing, basic services et cetera. Women migrants face the risk of exploitation, violence, abuse and trafficking. With the current push for ‘world class cities’ migrants are less welcome and the increased burden of household survival is being felt by women left behind in villages, as well as those in cities.