The household patterns of a 'Bangladeshi village' in England

The existence of racism as well as an apparent inability to achieve parity within British society forces the majority of Bangladeshi immigrants to think about their future in the homeland. This encourages them to maintain links with the sending society. One way to maintain such links is for men to have two wives. One resides in England while the other remains in the homeland to look after property, particularly arable land. In the course of time, the latter may join her husband and the co-wife in England. Strict immigration regulations may mean that some migrants fail to bring their spouses and children to the UK. Such complexities have given rise to the evolution of differential household patterns amongst this community, quite distinct from existing British or Asian household patterns. The present paper deals with the changing pattern of household composition among Bangladeshis in England. In the course of mapping UK Bangladeshis' domestic situations it becomes clear that traditional family patterns have been affected by the migration process and by the strict immigration regulations governing family reunion in ways that have resulted in some UK Bangladeshi women finding themselves in extremely impoverished and insecure situations.