Reconsidering Global Hypergamy

A Study of Filipino Marriage Migrants in Japan

Abstract

Filipino marriage migrants were supposed to have immigrated to Japan with the intention of “global hypergamy,” taking advantage of the economic superiority of the latter. However, recent quantitative studies have demonstrated that they have not climbed the social ladder. Hypergamy must, therefore, be reconsidered by accounting for geographic space and the passage of time. This study examines how the meaning of marriage for migrant women has changed over the decades they have lived in Japan. The data used in the analysis were obtained through interviews with 82 Filipino marriage migrants living in Japan. Women were categorized according to the Y-axis, which represents whether or not they lived with their husband or partner, and the X-axis, which shows whether or not they were the breadwinners in the household. The participants were classified into four categories: “husband-dependent,” “supporting husband,” “child-dependent,” and “self-reliant single mothers.” The data show that few, even among those who were “husband-dependent,” exhibited clear upward mobility, and that it is difficult for a divorced/widowed migrant woman to independently climb the social ladder. However, migrant women can improve their professional status based on the cultural capital they have cultivated in the Philippines and their self-investment in Japan. Furthermore, this study illustrates that migrant women may achieve upward mobility through remittances and property investments to the Philippines, even if their situation is hypogamous in Japan. Overall, the concept of hypergamy, which signifies class mobility as a result of marriage, cannot capture the longstanding process of migrant women moving between two countries.