Nguyen Kim Ha creator K.elkar, Govind Chairperson Walter, Pierre G. Examination committee Dale, Reidar Examination Committee Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Scholarship donor text series technical report th Bangkok Asian Institute of Technology 1999 continuing eng 91 leaves Spontaneous rural-urban migration to big cities has been a new phenomenon in the transition period in Vietnam. Transfer of land use rights to the families in rural areas, abandoning of the subsidy system on goods and services in urban areas and the privatization of state-owned enterprises have lead to the increase in number of migrants in the cities. Estimates of the number of migrants to Ho Chi Minh City are in the range of 70,000-100,000 annually. In Hanoi, a much smaller city than Ho Chi Minh City, it is estimated that approximately 40 percent of the net annual growth of 55,000 in the population of the city is due to migration. By interviewing 60 migrant women in six groups from six different professions that migrant women engage themselves in Hanoi, this study aimed at examining the reasons that push women farmers to migrate to Hanoi as well as the consequences and impacts of migration on them and their families. In order to achieve these objectives exploratory research methodology was employed in this study. The respondents in this survey were either those who has migrated to Hanoi and do not intend to live there permanently and those who visit there home village at least once every three months. It can be concluded from the results of this study that an increase in number of women migrating to Hanoi is occurring in response to the renovation related developments. Most women migrants described economic reasons as the main force behind their migration decisions. But there are other reasons also such as discord within family, lack of land, etc. No evidence was found that could prove that women's migration had negative impacts on their families. In migrants' families, improvement in economic status and an increase in schooling years of children took place. But women migrants themselves have suffered from poor working and living conditions in Hanoi such as lack of personal safety and or living in bad quality hostels. Women's migration to cities show those women are moving from a reproductive role to a productive role. In other words, they go out of their kitchens to enter into urban labor market. It has changed the stereotype of women's economic dependent status in families and in society. Changes in gender division of labor in-migrants families have confirmed that the persistence of pattern of division of labor can be changed. There is an urgent need for policy makers to recognize this role and accordingly include them in planning for production and decision making. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999 Rural-urban migration Vietnam Hanoi Asian Institute of Technology. http://203.159.5.9/ait-thesis/detail.php?q=B12125 http://203.159.5.9/ait-thesis/detail.php?q=B12125 240500 20260818213202.0