Abstract

PIP: To cover subsistence requirements, peasant women from the Peruvian Andes increasingly are being forced to engage in income-generating activities, including domestic service, marketing, manufacturing, and herding. In many cases, recruitment into waged labor involves migration from rural communities. Case studies of the placement of peasant women in external labor markets illustrate the complex micro- and macro-level factors that determine the mix of productive and reproductive labor. The sexual division of labor in the domestic economy and community is the critical in regulating the length of absence of peasant women from the home, the types of jobs taken, and the migratory destination. In 1 such case study, 56 women from the village of Kallarayan (all of whom had migrated at some point) were interviewed during 13 months of fieldwork in 1984-85. There is no paid employment in Kallarayan, so 14% of the village's population is involved in migration to urban areas or commercial agricultural areas in jungle valleys at any point. Male migration is high in the 11-40-year age group, but becomes seasonal once men marry. Female migrants tend to remain away from the village for longer periods, but are almost exclusively single. Recruitment of peasant women into paid labor is achieved by 5 types of agents: family, godparents and friends, authority figures, recruiting agents, and employers. Peasant girls under 15 years of age tend to be allocated to external labor markets (largely domestic services) by parents and godparents; after 15 years, however, when children are considered to reach adulthood, there is a shift toward self-motivated migration or recruitment by employers and agents. The eldest daughter typically enters migration at age 14 years and sacrifices her education, while younger siblings remain in the home longer. In all but the poorest families, female migration for waged labor ends with marriage.