Gender and intra-household migration decision in India: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to understand the gender differences in migration patterns at the intra-household level and the socio-economic factors that cause such differences. Furthermore, the paper aims to explore the gender-specific dynamics of migration. The theoretical framework is drawn from the New Economics of Labour Migration model modified to address the gender dimension. In other words, the methodology highlights the linkage between NELM model and empirical evidence in order to understand the influence of gender in the migration decision making process in the household. Data from the National Sample Survey 2007-08 is used, along with the logistic regression technique in order to understand gender differences in migration in a household context. The empirical findings of the study reveal that in poor economic settings the risk of migration of women is higher than that of men within the household, indicating vulnerability of females both as bread winners and care takers. For meeting familial needs and to cope with household income risk most of the females choose migration as a livelihood strategy and therefore they migrate at a higher rate than males. This paper highlights the importance of gender in the household migration decision-making model.