Determinants of remittances and assessment of living conditions of migrant workers

Abstract

Human migration is a universal phenomenon. It is a process through which people move from a permanent place of residence to another more or less permanent one for a substantial period of time. Migration is defined as the physical transition of an individual or a group from one society to another . Migration takes places in various forms generally it is of internal and international. India as a nation has seen a high migration rate in recent years. As per Census 2011, migration in India is between rural to rural areas (47.4 percent), followed by urban to urban areas (22.6 percent), rural to urban areas (22.1 percent), and urban to rural areas (7.9 percent). Between Census 2001 and 2011, rural to urban migration increased marginally from 21.8 percent to 22.1 percent and urban to urban migration increased from 15.2 percent to 22.6 percent. The share of family related migration (marriage) has increased from 28 percent to 36 percent (as share of total migrants) between Census 2001 and 2011. newlineThe migrants primarily trace work in the informal sector in cities as they do not possess adequate skills that are required to get jobs in organized sector. This leads to the development of dual labour market in the urban areas. On one hand there are the scantily paid workers, not availing any form of social security in the informal sector, and in contrast there are the highly skilled and better paid formal sector workers. Although the migrants earn more in the urban areas than in the rural areas, since they are underpaid in the informal sector in the city it thrusts on them a low standard of living and quality of life in the metropolis. newlineRemittances are the funds that are transferred to households by workers who are working away from their usual place of residence. Internal remittances are often of substantially smaller value than international remittances but in many rural communities in low-income nations even small amounts of cash could have high utility and prove important in rural development and poverty reduction.