Exploring The Working Lives of Zimbabwean Women In Britain

At the turn of the millennium, an influx of Zimbabwean economic migrants and asylum seekers arrived on British
shores fleeing economic and political turmoil under the Mugabe regime (Bloch, 2005). Data from the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2013) shows that the population of Zimbabweans in the diaspora grew
from an estimated 263,085 in 1990 to 973,200 in 2013, an increase of over 300% in just over two decades. Other
sources estimate that there are around 6 million Zimbabweans living in the diaspora today. Migration scholars have
termed this the "Zimbabwean Exodus" (Tavera, 2010).
What is significant about the "Zimbabwean Exodus" in the UK specifically, is that it has been primarily led by black
Zimbabwean women. According to data from the ONS International Migration Statistics, since 2002, the number of
Zimbabwean women in the UK is significantly higher than that of Zimbabwean men. In 2017, there were twenty
thousand more women than men who were born in Zimbabwe or identify as Zimbabwean residing in the UK. The
feminisation of Zimbabwean migration has seen significant numbers of Zimbabwean women migrating and settling
in Britain independent of male partners and being able to secure employment and higher education, despite facing
many challenges upon arriving in Britain. This interdisciplinary study focuses on this underrepresented and under
researched group of women.