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  • Title: Urban and rural populations and labour-force structures: current patterns and their implications.
    Author: Marcoux A.
    Journal: Popul Bull UN; 1990; (29):32-8. PubMed ID: 12343057.
    Abstract:
    The discussion of the changing structure in urban and rural areas due to changing migration patterns reflects the effect on crop designation and production, the connection to development and fertility issues, and the labor force structure. Different patterns of migration by sex occur between Ethiopia where female rural-to-urban migration is the dominant trend and Indonesia where males moving to urban areas occurs. When countries are identified as primarily male urban and female rural, the migration pattern is male rural-to-urban and is concentrated in African countries, whereas the reverse with female urban and male rural occurs in Latin America and developed countries. The tendency of the age structure in developed and developing countries is for the concentration of the 20 -49 year olds in urban areas and the under 20 and over 49 in rural areas. It is determined that those under 20 have 3 times greater importance in developing rather than developed countries. While in Tunisia and the Near East the over-age-49 rural population has increased, in Cameroon, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, the rural under-age-30 population has increased suggesting different migration patterns; however, there is insufficient computerized data for analysis of regional world trends. The migration pattern of child bearing age women affects the aging rural population in either of two ways. 1) Women stay and bear children and help with farm production while male migrate, thus increasing the youth and over 50 populations. 2) Whole families move with only the aging remaining. The determinants of migration are complex. When there is inequality in land distribution, the most mobile population are those without land or with very small holdings. If agricultural workers are dependent on a landlord, then migration is decreased. Technology and mechanization which have predominated in the last decades can both displace labor in rural areas when situated next to farms and increase labor when multiple cropping is practiced. Technological contributions of fertilizer and irrigation can contribute to rural staying power depending upon the use of labor. Where household income increased due to labor intensive high value crops like tea or tobacco, the incentive to move is decreased unless security is desired through diversification of income. Field studies reflect that indeed women and children replace lost male agricultural workers, and although controversial, it appears from empirical studies that productivity in the long run goes down. Where cash crops and food crops are interchanged, famine can result.
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