The historical-structural theory gained popularity in the 1950s, and it argued that developing countries are disadvantaged politically, and this is what continuously drives them into poverty. Compared to the developing countries, the less-developed countries have less power hence rendering it impossible to compete at the same level with the rest of the nations. After World War II, the rich capitalist countries forced the less rich nations to depend on some structural conditions, making them dependent. Therefore, the global forces of capitalism cause the underdevelopment in third-world nations. This theory explains that based on the need to increase profits, the big economies in the developed countries are going into the developing countries to buy land which is cheap and establish more industries there.
With the establishment of multinational firms, it is easier for the capitalists to get into the developing countries and access cheaper labor, raw materials, and large markets for their goods. According to this theory, international migration is caused by the creation of a mobile labor force. The capitalists base their ideas on the available ways of increasing their wealth, and hence they consolidate their firms. They then mechanize the labor and plant staple foods that render most agrarian communities in developing countries jobless. Therefore, the low-paying jobs are left to women who can also not work there for long and hence look for other opportunities. This leads to migration for both men and women to look for jobs. Historical-structural theorists believe that people who migrate do not do so on goodwill but are forced by the structural forces.
The segmented labor market theory mainly focuses on minimizing any risks that could result from market failures. This theory mainly focuses on countering the risk that could emerge from the futures market stock market and ensuring employment security. This theory points out that the international labor movement is encouraged by structural inflation that reflects the social hierarchies that exist in a society based on the amount of wage that an individual receives. The lack of motivation, from both the management and the individuals themselves, at the lower levels of the occupational ladder results in the migration of people in search of more satisfying jobs. The structural needs of an economy facilitate migration due to the lack of people to occupy the low jobs. According to this theory, the government is not in control of the number of people who are migrating even if it applies policies that affect the level of wages.
There is an increase in the number of women who are migrating from the poor countries to the rich ones in search of jobs, and the main jobs that they are offered in the wealthy countries are those of being a nanny, a contact braid, or a sex worker. To a great extent, globalization is the cause of the increase in the number of women who migrate in search of jobs. One of the pulling factors for migration in women is that the women in the developed countries are pursuing careers and therefore do not have adequate time to do the household chores. Consequently, they employ women from developing countries who are job-hunting.
Women from developing countries migrate to the wealthier countries to get a job that can support their families back in the host countries. This results in the separation of the children from their mothers at an early age because the mothers have migrated to look for a job so as to afford a decent life for their children. The wealthy women on the other hand become the sole breadwinners of their families or they share the role with their husbands.
The poor women are therefore strategically positioned in the global cities either directly as service workers or indirectly as they operate through consumption practices like being house helps. In the survival circuits that are built by the developing countries, the weight of the poverty is laid on the backs of the women who are either smuggled into the wealthy countries as sex workers and then send their remittances back home.