Migrant Households Research Articles

Patient experiences and health system responsiveness among internal migrants: A nationwide study in 13 Indian cities

ObjectiveTo report various components of health system responsiveness among poor internal migrants who availed the government health facilities in 13 Indian cities. Materials and methodsCluster random sampling was used to select 50,806 migrant households, of which 14,263 households avail the government health facility in last six months. In addition, 5072 women, who sought antenatal care and 3946 women who had delivery in government health facility during last six months were also included. Data on different domains of health system responsiveness were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, developed based on the World Health Survey of WHO. ResultsOf the eight domains of responsiveness, namely, autonomy, communication, confidentiality, dignity, choice, quality of basic facilities, prompt attention and access to family and community, seven domains, except the ‘choice’, are assessed, and they are moderate. Only about 30% of participants said that doctor discussed on treatment options (autonomy). And 50–60% of participants said positively for questions of clarity of communication. About 59% of participants acknowledged the confidentiality. Not more than 40% of participants said they were treated with dignity, and privacy is respected (dignity). The responses to quality basic amenities, prompt attention and access to family and community domains are fairly satisfactory. ConclusionsThis study has implications as many urban poor, including migrants do not utilize the services of public healthcare facilities. Hence, a responsive health system is required. There should be a policy in place to train and orient healthcare workers on some of the domains of health system responsiveness.

Toward Human-Centered Urbanization? Housing Ownership and Access to Social Insurance Among Migrant Households in China

For the past few years, China’s urbanization policy has focused on expanding welfare and affordable housing for rural migrants so as to encourage them to put down roots in the city. The international literature disagrees on the relationship between homeownership and welfare—whether the former is a substitute for or a consequence of the latter. Using multilevel logistic regression on a 2015 nationally representative survey, this paper explores the determinants of housing ownership among China’s rural migrant households in their city of residence, focusing particularly on access to urban social insurance. The results show that institutional ties to the city such as enrollment in local pensions and health insurance are associated with higher likelihood of homeownership. This paper argues that policy interventions should target the social security system, as rural migrants are likely unwilling or unable to invest in urban housing due to the increased risk and precarity they typically experience. The findings also suggest that to make urbanization more sustainable, the government should aim at making cities more family-friendly, expanding alternatives to employment-based social insurance schemes, and targeting efforts on interior cities in migrant-sourcing provinces that pose fewer barriers to permanent settlement.

International migration and household living arrangements among transnational families in Brazil

ABSTRACT Much has been discussed in the international literature about the relationship between family arrangements and migration decision-making, although few studies have done so through the analysis of quantitative data from migrants’ countries of origin. Based on the theoretical contributions brought by the New Economics of Labor Migration and Transnationalism, we investigate how three intervening factors affect household living arrangements in the migrant’s country of origin: people’s life-cycle stages, migration regimes, and family normative systems. Using as case study the municipality of Governador Valadares, Brazil, the country’s main international emigration hotspot, we draw on a mixed-methods approach that includes the analysis of the Brazilian Census and novel survey data, in addition to 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with migrants’ relatives and returnees. The results point to clear differences between the structure of households with and without international emigrants. The reasons for these differences may be two-fold: (a) international emigration is an important factor leading to the rearrangement of family care systems, and (b) migration decision-making processes are dependent upon particular household structures, family norms and migration regimes.

Environmental characteristics of urban-rural farming migrants in the Republic of Korea and their significance for rural sustainability

ABSTRACTThe number of households migrating to agricultural villages has sharply increased in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) since the late 1990s when the Asian economic crisis developed. This study investigates the environmental behaviour and the socio-economic characteristics of urban-rural migrant farming households and provides insights into their significance for rural sustainability in South Korea. The study is based on survey data collected in 2016 from a sample of 166 migrant farming households and 46 native farming households from the Namwon region in South Korea. The migrant farming households are divided into 29 return and 137 non-return farming households. It was found that most non-return migrants are organic farmers, and can be characterised as anti-urban, amenity-pursuing, green, and lifestyle migrants. It is no wonder that they have a strong intent to make their new home an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable place for their children. Thus, appropriate policy measures need to be designed in such a way to facilitate the synergy between the repopulation of rural areas by farming migrants, their uptake of organic farming, their active engagement in community rebuilding, and regional economic development.

Decent Care for Migrant Households: Policy Alternatives to Sri Lanka’s Family Background Report

AbstractDomestic worker migration can profoundly reconfigure unpaid care arrangements within migrant households, often exacerbating gendered inequalities in providing and receiving care. While the International Labor Organization has led rights advocacy around migrant domestic work, there remains a dearth of attention to the relationship between feminized migration and unpaid care. In Sri Lanka, this policy space has been occupied by the Family Background Report: a series of regulations that reinforce maternal caregiving by restricting the migration of women with young children. An alternative “decent care” approach, involving investment in local care infrastructure, could yield multiple benefits while promoting a gender-inclusive decent work agenda.

Moving-with-Others

The article argues for an intersubjective understanding of mobility among aspirant migrants in the Gambia. Among other factors, Gambian young men’s desire to reach Europe and other destinations may stem from an experience of dispersal and abandonment in migrant households. Emigration becomes a way of restoring the viability of relationships, in a socioeconomic sense of regenerating ties and flows between migrants and nonmigrants, as well as in an existential-kinetic sense of experiencing others as moving closer to oneself. By highlighting intersubjective mobility, the article contributes to widening the scope of an existential take on movement and stasis. It further revises popular and scholarly views on the role of families and migrants in shaping aspirations to emigrate.

Impact of out-migration of men on women's participation in community-based forestry: insights from Van Panchayats of Uttarakhand, India

Increased out-migration from rural areas indicates a significant socio-demographic shift that is increasingly being studied for its impact on community-based forestry institutions. Previous studies in Nepal, Mexico and India have highlighted changes in community-based forestry institutions through increased participation of women following out-migration of men. Therefore, this paper analyses the participation of women in Van Panchayats in a representative sample of six Van Panchayats from Almora district, which is facing one of the highest rates of out-migration in Kumaon region of India. The analysis suggests there is low participation of women in the leadership positions of Van Panchayats despite landmark legislations to increase women's participation. Further, there was no statistically significant difference between participation of women from migrant versus non-migrant households in general assembly meetings of Van Panchayats, suggesting lack of supporting evidence on previous claims about out-migration leading to increased participation of women. Moreover, the position of women in the household (whether household head or not) was significant in explaining their participation in Van Panchayats, and other community-based institutions. The reported findings are relevant to the design of gender inclusive public policy on Van Panchayats as well as to the literature on impact of out-migration on community-based forestry.

Can policy deviance reduce poverty? A critical analysis of self‐return migration in Cameroon

AbstractThe general focus of policy is to achieve pre‐designed goals considered by policy‐makers to be of interest to societies or targeted groups. Policy research has, therefore, witnessed a significant tilt towards improving scientific knowledge and understanding policy enactment processes, and the extent to which they achieve desired goals. Policy deviance – the tendency for members of society to ignore or disrespect laid‐down policy guidelines – has often been considered a crucial determinant for poor policy outcomes. However, the benefits of policy deviance, and the conditions under which societal groups register such benefits currently account for only a negligible number of studies. This article reduces this existing knowledge gap by examining the nexus between policy deviance and poverty reduction, based on a case study of deviant migrant households who relocated to settle around the Lake Nyos area in Cameroon. The empirical analysis through a livelihoods lens revealed a positive relationship between deviance and poverty reduction. The conclusion suggests that not all policy deviance situations lead to negative outcomes. It emphasises the need for a constant analysis of the policy outcome nexus, as opposed to the assumption that deviance leads to negative outcomes. Further research is needed to ground this contention.

Child Nutrition Among Circular Migrant Families Working in the Brick Kilns of Bihar, India (P10-052-19)

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of child malnutrition and the determinants of nutrition status among circular migrant families working in the brick industry in Bihar, India, focusing on differences by origin. MethodsWe used a stratified, cluster sampling design consisting of a cross-sectional survey in 552 randomly selected brick kilns (clusters) throughout Bihar. Circular migration was defined as residence outside the home block for at least 60 days for employment plus at least one home return in the previous year. Per kiln, three circular migrant households with children 0–35 months of age were randomly selected. We collected kiln, household and child-level data including anthropometric measurements for each selected child (n = 1198). Descriptive, bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted in SAS. The primary outcomes were stunting (<-2 SD height-for-age z score) and wasting (<-2 SD weight-for-height z score). The primary exposure of interest was intrastate vs. interstate origin; covariates included household wealth index, parity of the mother, and child age and gender. ResultsPrevalence of stunting was lower among interstate migrants (47%) compared to intrastate migrants (55%, aOR: 0.66, 95%CI: 0.50–0.88). Wasting was higher among interstate migrants (43%) compared to intrastate migrants (34%, aOR:1.51, 95%CI: 1.17–1.94). Among children 6–23 months, 13% had a minimum acceptable diet; MAD was higher among interstate migrants (17%), compared to intrastate migrants (10%) (P = 0.014). Full immunization coverage among circular migrants was 39%, lower than the overall state (62%, NFHS IV). Open defecation was reported by over 90% of circular migrants. ConclusionsOur results are likely to inform the ongoing policy discourse on circular migrants’ access to health and nutrition benefits. State of origin emerged as an important predictor of nutrition status, operating differently for acute and chronic malnutrition; we will further explore pathways of nutrition by origin in future analyses. Funding SourcesBill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Barriers in distribution, ownership and utilization of insecticide-treated mosquito nets among migrant population in Myanmar, 2016: a mixed methods study

BackgroundSleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets/long-lasting insecticidal nets (ITNs/LLINs henceforth referred to as ITNs) is one of the core interventions recommended by the World Health Organization to reduce malaria transmission and prevent malaria in high-risk communities, such as migrants, by preventing mosquito bites. The malaria burden among the migrant population is a big challenge for malaria elimination in Myanmar. In this context, this study aimed to assess the ownership and utilization of ITNs and to understand the barriers to distribution and utilization of ITNs among the high-risk migrant communities in the Regional Artemisinin Resistance Initiative (RAI) project areas of Myanmar.MethodsA sequential mixed methods study (quantitative component: cross-sectional study involving analysis of secondary data available from a survey conducted among migrant households in the RAI project areas of Myanmar in 2016 followed by a descriptive qualitative component in 2018). A total of 17 focus group discussions (involving 121 participants) with different groups of migrants and 17 key-informant interviews with key programme stakeholders were conducted in 4 selected townships of RAI project areas.ResultsOf 3230 migrant households, 63.3% had at least one ITN while 36% had sufficient ITNs (i.e., 1 ITN per 2 persons). Regarding ITN utilization, about 52% of household members reported sleeping under an ITN the previous night, which is similar among under-fives and pregnant women. Over half of all bed nets were ITNs, with nearly one-third having holes or already undergone repairs. The qualitative findings revealed that the key challenges for ITN utilization were insufficient ITNs in households and dislike of ITNs. The barriers to ITN distribution were incomplete migrant mapping due to resource constraints (time, money, manpower) and difficulties in transportation and carrying ITNs.ConclusionThis study highlights poor ownership and utilization of ITNs among migrants in the RAI project areas of Myanmar and barriers to their ownership and utilization. To achieve universal coverage and utilization, more programmatic support by the programme is needed to carry out complete migrant mapping and continuous ITN distribution in remote locations.

The Impact of Remittances on Children Educational Outcome in Indonesia

This study investigated the impact of remittances on education outcome of children in the migrant household using cross-sectional data from ongoing longitudinal survey International Family Life Survey fifth wave that collected in 2014. The study controls household’s characteristics and individual characteristics and endogeneity problem using Instrumental Variables estimation. This research using Instrumental Variable Probit Estimation. The remittance is the main variable and the married status, sex category, age of household’s head, household’s head education, and wealth as a control variable. This research finds that remittance has a negative and significant effect on the probability of having higher education on children in migrant households.

The urbanization-household gender inequality nexus: Evidence from time allocation in China

Urbanization and accompanying socio-economic change, alter intra-household behaviours including paid and unpaid work patterns. China's rapid urbanization raises important questions about the changing nature of gender asymmetries in the household division of labour. Using 24-hour time module data from the China Family Panel Studies, we investigate time allocation of females and males in matched-couples in urban, rural-urban migrant, and rural households. Our model explicitly incorporates the impact of care of young children on time-use. Distinguishing between care and other housework, overall, we find while traditional gendered time-use patterns persist among rural households, urbanization and migration reduces gender differentials in unpaid work. Both urban and migrant fathers engage in more care work than their rural counterparts. We shed new light on the configurations of paid and unpaid work, leisure and self-care; women's burden of a ‘second shift’ of unpaid work; the role of education and income in eroding gender norms; and the impact of grandparents on time-use.

The quest for quality education: international remittances and rural–urban migration in Nepal

Despite a large growth in domestic and international migration and remittances in recent decades, there are limited works that systematically identify and establish interactions between internal and international migration. Using primary data from new urban areas of Nepal, we identify households that had migrated from rural to urban areas, explore their migration practices and educational investment behaviors, and analyze the effects of international migration and remittances on investment in education. The results show that, despite their lower income and consumption, migrant households that have members abroad have higher human capital investment measured by the level and budget share of expenditure on children’s education and the time their children spend for studying at home than do urban-native and other types of migrant households. Our findings suggest that searching for better education is one important motivation for migrating to urban areas among rural households having members abroad.

Changing patterns of household decision-making and the education of rural migrant children: comparing Shenzhen and Mumbai

Abstract In both China and India, migrant families face difficult decisions about education and livelihoods. In China, migrant children have limited access to urban schools, because of high documentary barriers to enrolment. In India, administrative barriers are fewer, but other structural factors, including households’ need for child labour, restrict opportunities. Although much research globally has explored household negotiations leading to migration, we know little about livelihoods decision-making processes after initial migration. How is decision-making affected by changes in household dynamics as a result of moving to the city? Drawing on over 300 interviews with migrants in Shenzhen and Mumbai from 2007 to 2016, this article compares the ways that Chinese and Indian rural-migrant households negotiate their children’s limited access to education, and demonstrates significant shifts within families after the initial rural–urban movement in both countries. Mothers in particular gain greater roles in developing household strategies, and more attention is paid to the voices of (some, mostly male) children. However, contrary to existing literature on non-migrant populations, increased maternal and child autonomy within the migrant household does not necessarily result in educational gains. Instead, the exercise of agency outside the household remains highly constrained by structural factors including poverty and marginalisation, education policies, and gendered social relations.

Inequalities in the social determinants of health and Chagas disease transmission risk in indigenous and creole households in the Argentine Chaco

BackgroundThe social determinants of health (SDHs) condition disease distribution and the ways they are handled. Socio-economic inequalities are closely linked to the occurrence of neglected tropical diseases, but empirical support is limited in the case of Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. Herein we assessed the relationship between key structural SDHs and the risk of T. cruzi vector-borne transmission in rural communities of the Argentine Chaco occupied by creoles and an indigenous group (Qom). We used multiple correspondence analysis to quantify the household-level socio-economic position (social vulnerability and assets indices), access to health and sanitation services, and domestic host availability. We identified the most vulnerable population subgroups by comparing their demographic profiles, mobility patterns and distribution of these summary indices, then assessed their spatial correlation and household-level effects on vector domiciliary indices as transmission risk surrogates.ResultsQom households had higher social vulnerability and fewer assets than creoles, as did local movers and migrant households compared with non-movers. We found significantly positive effects of social vulnerability and domestic host availability on infected Triatoma infestans abundance, after adjusting for ethnicity. Access to health and sanitation services had no effect on transmission risk. Only social vulnerability displayed significant global spatial autocorrelation up to 1 km. A hotspot of infected vectors overlapped with an aggregation of most vulnerable households.ConclusionsThis synthetic approach to assess socio-economic related inequalities in transmission risk provides key information to guide targeted vector control actions, case detection and treatment of Chagas disease, towards sustainability of interventions and greater reduction of health inequalities.

Smallholder farmers' livelihood adaptation to climate variability and ecological changes in the savanna agro ecological zone of Ghana

Climate variability and ecological changes have consequently altered life and natural livelihood-sustaining systems leading to socio-cultural, economic and environmental challenges and vulnerabilities. The risk factors are very high and the impacts will raise the developmental impediments of safeguarding livelihood security and poverty eradication in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adaptation to climate and ecological variation, though recognized as pressing and necessary, operates in the context of numerous uncertainties and unknowns. Previous studies on climate adaptation tried to identify universal patterns of coping rather than differentiating between agro ecological zones, villages and types of households. This paper uses case studies from two rural communities in the Savanna agro ecological zone of Ghana to explore smallholder farmers' responses to climate and ecological variation effects on their livelihood activities that have emerged since the mid-1980s. Results suggest that smallholder farmers use various coping, on-farm and off-farm adaptation strategies to ameliorate the negative impacts of climate and ecological changes on their livelihood. Coping measures such as selling household assets, migration of the entire households and decreasing food consumption/changing diets can be damaging. On –farm adaptation strategies such as varying planting dates, use of drought tolerant crop varieties, soil conservation strategies are based on farmers indigenous knowledge passed down from generations. To ensure sustainability of local adaptation strategies, there is the need for exchange of knowledge between and among smallholder farmers and formal institutions through the recognition and empowerment of local residents and collective actions.

Urban segregation and food consumption

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of China’s urban segregation caused by hukou restrictions on food consumption.Design/methodology/approachBased on the 2007–2009 Urban Household Survey data from six China provinces conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the authors adopt a propensity score matching (PSM) method to correct for potential selection bias. A Rosenbaum bounds test is applied to evaluate the sensitivity of the PSM results to unobserved variables.FindingsThe results show that holding rural hukou (RHs) reduces the consumption of livestock products and vegetables and fruit by 8.8 and 4.8 percent, respectively. The status of hukou does not affect the consumption of grain and edible oil. Hukou impacts on food consumption are heterogeneous across income levels, with low-income and middle-income households more vulnerable to urban segregation and hukou discriminations. A stronger motivation for precautionary saving and higher welfare expenditures that not compensated by social security lead to the lower food consumption by migrant households with RHs.Originality/valueThis paper advances the research frontier by investigating the impacts of hukou system on the structure of food consumption, which accurately reflects the household welfare.

Social Disadvantage and Children’s Nutritional Status in Rural-Urban Migrant Households

ABSTRACTThis article uses an innovative rural-urban migrant survey to assess how social disadvantage is associated with children’s nutritional status in migrant households. Measures of social disadvantage are based on China’s hukou system of household registration (designed to limit domestic migration flows by denying urban public services to migrants with rural registrations) and on son preference (stemming in part from the strict one-child policy). Regression results indicate that a rural hukou status is negatively associated with children’s weight-for-age Z-scores, even after controlling for household characteristics, and girl children exhibit poorer nutritional status than boys. Results from a quantile decomposition procedure confirm that left-behind children have lower nutritional scores than children who migrate with their parents, and the gaps are biggest at lower portions of the distribution.

Spatial mismatch, enclave effects and employment outcomes for rural migrant workers: Empirical evidence from Yunnan Province, China

The process of rapid urbanisation in China is causing rural migrant workers to experience increasing spatial mismatch and enclave effects. In the existing literature, no specific study has been conducted on the degree to which the spatial mismatch and enclave effects are related to employment outcomes. Extending upon the findings of existing research, this study separates the impact of spatial mismatch and that of the enclave effects for the first time. This study therefore investigates the influence of spatial mismatch and enclave effects on the employment and household incomes of individual migrant workers in the underdeveloped regions of Yunnan province in western China. This study is based on cross-sectional data from the 2015 rural migrant worker urban integration household survey in Yunnan province. After controlling for other influencing factors, the instrument variable probit and two-stage least square models were used to estimate the impact of housing location, commute time and social interactions on the employment propensity and household income of migrant workers. The empirical results revealed that commute time has no significant effect on the employment propensity of migrant workers, whilst it does have a significant negative impact on the household incomes of migrant workers. The number of friends and relatives that individual migrant workers interact with also has a significant positive impact on their employment propensities and incomes. These marginal effects vary across different cities. Rural migrant workers who reside in larger cities are more likely to have enhanced employment prospects and higher incomes. Overall, the findings suggest that both spatial mismatch and enclave effects exist in the Chinese labour market. Further tests confirm the robustness of our findings.

Who are the Asset-Poor in China: A Comprehensive Description and Policy Implications

AbstractThere is a large body of literature asserting that household asset holdings play a critical role in prospects of economic and social well-being. This study examines asset-poverty rates in China using the 2013 survey data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP). The results indicate that asset-poverty rates in urban China were lower than those of developed countries, whereas rural and migrant households experienced more serious asset poverty than their counterparts in urban China. In addition, the asset-poverty rates were at least twice the income-poverty rates in China according to the different poverty lines used in the study. Several demographic characteristics were found associated with asset poverty. To assist the Chinese government in reaching its goal of eradicating absolute poverty by 2020 through targeted poverty alleviation, this study suggests including assets in the description and alleviation of poverty.