Engendering Migration in India: Findings of a National Survey

Migration is often considered as principally a male dominated process. However, over the years, it has been observed that the number of female migrants has steadily risen. Globally, female migrants now constitute nearly half of all migrant. In India, ‘feminization of migration’ has been reported since the 1960s. Still there is limited information on the characteristics of the migrants and their migration pattern. The current paper uses data collected during the National Sample Survey (NSS)-Round 64 to assess differences in the general characteristics of male and female migrants. The paper also explores differences between female migrants joining rural to rural and rural to urban migration streams. In addition, the paper discusses the reasons for female migration and tries to assess the individual-level factors that are associated with female migration. The results of the bivariate and multivariate analysis suggest that the socio-demographic context of female migrants is significant different from their male counterparts. Among female migrants, differences also exist depending on the pattern of migration. Irrespective of the gender or pattern, we found that migration was typically permanent in nature. While ‘marriage’ remains the most common reason for migration, our findings suggest an increase in the economic reasons such as employment, education etc. Our multivariate analysis identifies female migrants as young adults, from higher social strata but lower economic groups, with low level of educational qualification and limited skills. Our findings suggest the need to effectively manage female migration so that it can be recognized as a positive phenomenon.