The migration and development literature increasingly interrogates the effects of emigration on sociocultural change in the countries of origin, especially in relation to gender relations. Various studies conducted in the context of patriarchal societies have posited that male emigration may result in an empowerment of the women staying behind, with very mixed conclusions. Analysing in‐depth interviews with 12 women living in a southwestern Moroccan town in a region of historic emigration to France, this contribution seeks to further this investigation by considering how migration and remittances impact women's bargaining and decision‐making power within the household left behind. It examines how migration affects what is generally regarded as an enabling factor of women's empowerment, that is, the process of household nuclearisation through which migrants' wives can emancipate themselves from the control of their in‐laws and gain more control over finances. It shows how women's power and status change over time, following the important stages of the domestic cycle and the migratory trajectory of their husbands. This paper distinguishes three “ages” for wives left behind, corresponding to different power configurations in the local and transnational households. In contrast with the empowerment hypothesis, the interviews suggest that migration may actually contribute to the resilience of the traditional extended household structure rather than its demise. Overall, this contribution argues that migration systems predicated on a patriarchal social and family order are unlikely to bring about sustainable women's empowerment in the origin household and community.