A/HRC/41/38 on the traditional distribution of roles, one could expect men to struggle with having to take on new and traditionally female tasks. Other men may be more concerned about the loss of their role as the main income earner and thus head of the household. Research suggests that some men take the redistribution of tasks as a chance to prove their ability to adapt and increase their sense of autonomy. These changes in traditional gender roles were captured in a study of husbands in the northern Philippines whose wives had become migrant workers overseas. The study showed that some of the men took over the role of caregiver, traditionally occupied by mothers, suggesting a shift in how masculinity is defined.38 The shift demonstrates that gender identities and family roles are changing, fluid, and far from being universal.39 46. In the absence of family reunification policies, women’s migration may result in the separation of a family and the impact of that is borne by the children, who grow up without the presence of at least one of their primary caregivers. 40 That is not to say that all of the impact is negative. An important factor is the age of the child at the time the migration occurs as it affects the way he or she deals with a parent’s absence. 41 There is some evidence to suggest that a mother’s migration can also have a positive impact on her children. In a study on seasonal migration and early childhood development in Nicaragua, it was suggested that a mother’s migration had a beneficial effect on the cognitive development and nutritional status of preschool-aged children, implying that the relatively large household income gains from temporary employment in other regional labour markets compensated largely for the potentially negative effects of the mother’s absence. This positive impact of female migration on children’s development may also be attributable to a combination of intrahousehold empowerment associated with women’s larger contributions to household income, and the ability of extended family members to care for the children while their mother is away. In that sense, changes to intrahousehold resource allocation and bargaining can have an impact on human capital investments and therefore promote intergenerational gender equity.42 2. Migration and social and cultural gender norms 47. The migration of women may amend the social and gender norms both for migrants themselves and for their home communities. It may influence their home communities to adopt more equitable norms with regard to education, reproductive rights, marriage and the organization of families and communities.43 The migration of women has the potential to contribute to a reformulation of gender roles and cultural norms, and may improve women’s autonomy, self-esteem and social standing.44 For example, in one study, South Asian migrant women reportedly used their increased decision‐making power to direct their remittances to health care and education for their families. 45 48. The feminization of a number of labour sectors – most notably the domestic work and care industries – creates a global care chain, which is a series of links between people across the world based on paid and unpaid care work. Ageing populations, declining fertility rates, women’s increasing participation in the global workforce and gaps in health and social care systems create more demand for paid domestic and care work. 46 Women who fill those positions tend to rely on female relatives to care for their own families, 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 12 Martin F. Manalansan IV, “Queer intersections: sexuality and gender in migration studies” in The International Migration Review, vol. 40, No. 1 (2006), p. 241. World Health Organization, Women on the Move: Migration, Care Work and Health (Geneva, 2017), p. 54. Sijapati, “Women’s labour migration from Asia and the Pacific”, p. 5. See Kristina A. Schapiro, “Migration and educational outcomes of children”, Human Development Research Paper, No. 57 (New York, UNDP, 2009). World Bank, A gender (r)evolution in the making? Expanding women’s economic opportunities in Central America: a decade in review (Washington, D.C., 2012), p. 70. O’Neil, Fleury and Foresti, “Women on the move”, p. 5. Ibid. See Rita Afsar, “Contextualizing gender and migration in South Asia: critical insights” in Gender, Technology and Development, vol. 15, No. 3 (2011), pp. 389–410. O’Neil, Fleury and Foresti, “Women on the move”, p. 7.