Asian Social Science; Vol. 10, No. 3; 2014 ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 232 Labor Migration and Gender Empowerment: A Case Study of Housemaids Farkhanda Shamim 1 , Najeeba Tazeen 2 & Naveeda Qaseem 3 1 Department of Economics and Finance, University of Bahrain, Bahrain; the Institute of Innovation and Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada 2 University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan 3 University of Westminster, London, UK Correspondence: Farkhanda Shamim. Department of Economics and Finance, University of Bahrain, Bahrain; the Institute of Innovation and Technology Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. E-mail: fshamim@uob.edu.bh Received: November 14, 2013 Accepted: December 1, 2013 Online Published: January 27, 2014 doi:10.5539/ass.v10n3p232 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n3p232 Abstract By applying purposive and convenience sampling techniques the researchers interrogate the reasons of housemaids' migration from their native villages in Northwest Pakistan and their perceived Status within the household. The study finds that due to low wages in their home town, debt bondage, social discrimination based on caste and lack of personal security in the agrarian society, the whole family migrated to cities to improve their living and worked as unskilled labor in urban areas. The study concludes that although women work harder than men once they migrate however, they don't have much control on financial and social decisions and their lives are not any better. Internal migration does help to improve the family's economic and social status but it is not an empowering intervention for the women migrants. Nonetheless, it provides them the possibilities to bring about change in life. Keywords: internal migration decisions, social dynamics, bonded workers, Pakistan, empowerment 1. Introduction The paper has two objectives. First, to investigate and lay out the factors of rural-urban migration. Second, to interrogate the impact of this mobility on the empowerment of low class, unskilled rural workers and its significance for their women. Empowerment has been defined in many ways, but in general it is considered as a multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives. According to Eyben et al. (2008) empowerment occurs when people “are able to imagine their world differently and to realize that vision by changing the relations of power that have been keeping them in poverty”. The importance of empowerment as a constituent element of human development has been recognized by international organizations such as the United Nations (2001) World Bank (2003) etc and it is one of the Millennium Development Goals to empower socially excluded and disadvantaged members of the society by 2015. In this regard, women empowerment has drawn much attention in recent times and many studies focus on international migration to find its potential to empower women (see Parreñas (2006); Yamanaka (2008) for example). However, such studies are very limited in the context of internal migration and for developing countries. The present study attempts to fill this gap in the literature. Nonetheless, after having been neglected for a long period in both research and policymaking, it now appears that internal migration itself is receiving growing attention. One such study is done by Selier in 1988 which emphasizes the socio-economic consequences of population mobility in Pakistan context. The paper is structured as follows. First various theories of migration are presented along with important scholarly contributions on empowerment. Then the research methodology and the characteristics of the sample is elaborated followed by the presentation of the research findings on the reasons of migration and its impact on the empowerment of women. Finally, the study is concluded with some policy implications.