MIGRATION

DEFINITION AND CONCEPTS

 DEFINITION

•The UN multilingual dictionary defines "migration" as a form of

spatial mobility between one geographical unit and another,
involving a permanent change of residence. Thus, migration
involves the following aspects:
(a) Permanent change of residence for one or more years; and
(b) Crossing of a pre-defined administrative boundary.
Advantage of such definition is that much useful information is usually
available on the characteristics of places of origin and definition which
permit a better analysis of factors associated with migration.
Disadvantages of such definition are that:
(a) It excludes other types of short-term or cyclical or circulatory or
temporary movements which are also equally important for study; and
(b) There is also the risk of non-comparability over time due to change
in administrative boundaries, as well as great difference in size and shape
in such boundaries.

•However, for convenience, this definition is utilised in most migration

studies.
MIGRANT

•A migrant is a person who has changed his usual

place of residence from one area to another at least
once during the migration interval (usually, interval
may be one year, five years, or ten years, or
intercensal period.)
 AREA OF ORIGIN

For migration, the area or place from which a move is made is the
area of origin. For migrants it may be -

•(a) An area of residence at the beginning of migration interval, or

•(b) An area of residence from which last move made for the
current migration interval.
AREA OF DESTINATION

•For migration, the area in which a move terminates is the

area of destination. For migrants, the area of destination is
the area of residence at the end of migration interval.
MIGRATION STREAMS

•It is the total number of moves made during a given

migration interval that have a common area of
origin and of destination. In practice, however, it is
a body of migrants having common area of origin
and destination.
 LIFETIME MIGRATION

•A person whose area of residence at census date differs from the

area of birth is a lifetime migrant. The number of such persons in a
population is referred to as lifetime migration.
•However, the definition grossly underestimates both migration and
number of migrants; as it excludes all moves that occurred between
departure from place of birth and arrival in the area of residence as
reported on a census date,
•And it does not include migrant persons who moved out and
subsequently returned to the place of birth.
OUT MIGRATION AND IN MIGRATION
• Every move is an out-migration with respect to the area of origin and an in
migration with respect to the area of destination.

• An in-migrant is a person who enters a migration-defining area by crossing

its boundary from some point outside the area, but within the same country.
He is to be distinguished from an "immigrant" who is an "international
migrant" entering the area from a place outside the country.

• An out-migrant is a person who reports from a migration-defining area by

crossing its boundary to a point outside it, but within the same country. He
is to be distinguished from "emigrant" who is an "international migrant"
departing to another country by crossing an international boundary.
GROSS AND NET MIGRATION

•Data that refer to all moves or all migrants, within a specific definition of
migration that is being applied, are concerned with "gross" migration.
With respect to a given area, the sum of in-migration and out-migration,
or of in-migrants and out migrants, is called "turnover".
•Net migration refers to the balance of movements in opposite directions.
With reference to a given area, it is the difference between in-migration
and out-migration. When in-migration exceeds out-migration, the net
going to area is called "net in-migration", which takes a positive sign. In
the opposite case, there has been "net out-migration", and which takes a
negative sign.
•
Intra District Migrants:
When a person moves out from the place of usual residents or
birth to another defined area which is within the district of
enumeration, he/she is termed as intra district migrant.

Inter District Migrants:

A person who in the course of migration crosses the boundary
of the district of enumeration but remains within the state of
enumeration is termed as an inter district migrant.
Intra state and inter state migration can similarly be defined.
 TYPES OF MIGRATION
• There are two major types of migration: internal migration that occurs within a
country; and international migration that takes place across international boundary.

• within internal migration, there could be a four-way classification of migration

according to their direction of movements between rural and urban areas; for example,
(i) Rural to rural migration
(ii) Rural to urban migration
(iii) Urban to rural migration
(iv) Urban to urban migration
IMPORTANCE OF MIGRATION TYPES

•Of all these streams, it is primarily rural to urban migration which

becomes the most important, as it contributes to the transfer of labour
force from the traditional agricultural sector to the urbanised industrial
sector, and is linked with the process of urbanization. Likewise, urban
to urban migration is also related to the process of urbanization.

•However, in many developing countries like India, rural to rural

migration is also of great volume and significance, especially among the
females, who move primarily for marriage or for familial reasons. Each
of these migration streams has different premises, causes and
MIGRATION PATTERN IN INDIA

•The inter-state migration rate was considered low in India in

comparison with the west.
•Assam and Bengal in Eastern India, and Bombay, Mysore,
Travancore-Cochin in Southern India were the
migrant-receiving regions. In 1950's and onwards, the West
and East zones of India registered the principal gains in
population due to migration.
•In 1961 census, 30 per cent of the population was enumerated
•Female marriage migration consists of a very large proportion of
internal migration in India; and rural-to-rural migration for work,
familial purposes, and other reasons, for both males and females,
constitutes a more massive proportion than rural-urban migration.
•Over 200 million people were enumerated in a place outside their
place of birth (30% of total population of 685 million) in 1981 census
•During the recent decades, in India, women are also migrating for
economic reasons; apart from their voluminous migration for
marriage.
PUSH AND PULL FACTORS

The push factor involves a force which acts to

drive people away from a place and the pull
factor is what draws them to a new location.
CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNAL MIGRATION FOR
RURAL AREAS
Effect on rural incomes and its distribution
i. A sizeable surplus generated in the industrial sector which provides the necessary
physical and working capital for development.
ii. A declining labour-land ratio often provides a new environment conducive to
changing rural production techniques.
iii. The transfer of labour into the more productive, eventually generates a growing
demand for rural output, and thus alters the rural-urban terms of trade, raising
agricultural prices relative to those of urban goods.
iv. The increase in agricultural prices, in turn, is likely to stimulate agricultural
production and raise rural incomes. Remittances from urban areas are also likely to
raise rural incomes, and may not only increase the levels of consumption, but also
encourage technological change that further raises rural incomes.
•Effect on rural capital formation and technological change
i. Out-migration from rural areas is likely to get higher wage
rates and encourage labors, and technological change leads
to greater work participation by the remaining family
members.
ii. Technological change would also be stimulated to the extent
that out-migrants repatriate savings to the rural areas in the
form of remittances or capital equipment.
 •Effect on modes of rural production
i. Rural out-migration is associated with a greater reliance on
wage-labour. Out-migration of young adults changes the age
composition of the rural family, lead to hire wage-labour, especially if
the migrants send back remittances that can be used to pay wages.

ii. Migration may also lead to commercialisation of agricultural activity,

which is further encouraged by favorable changes in commodity terms
of trade and extension of markets.

iii. Technological changes and capital investments resulting from

migration via remittances contribute to increasing monetisation and
mechanization of agriculture.
 Effect on rural fertility

i. Migration affects the level and distribution of income in rural areas,

and income distribution is known to be an important determinant of
fertility and aggregate population growth.

ii. migration of unmarried males of young, working age might result in

severe imbalances in the sex ratio in rural areas and influence the
proportion of persons able to find marriage partners.

iii. Separation of husbands from wives during the crucial life-cycle

phase, when couples are fertile and economically active may have the
effect of lowering the completed family size.
iv. The decision to migrate or to start a family tends to occur at about the
same age period. Since marriage, migration and labour force
participation are conscious decisions of the individual, it is possible
that a person may delay his/her marriage so that he/she can migrate and
help out his family.
v. Migration through increased contacts with the more modernized
sectors may influence the value system of the rural communities, and
rural inhabitants may internalize lower fertility norms.
CONSEQUENCES OF INTERNAL MIGRATION FOR
URBAN AREAS

•The economic effects of migration on the urban areas are

more difficult to distinguish. These are generally determined
by comparing key economic factors such as levels of
employment and income, occupational structure, savings and
capital formation, structure and composition of industry, and
government revenue and expenditure, before and after
migration.
 Effect on wages and unemployment
i. there are several means by which migrants may directly or indirectly
raise the level of employment, they may lower wage rates in urban
areas, and this may lead to an expansion of employment
ii. the increased supply of unskilled and semi-skilled labour may stimulate
investment and bring about a higher rate of industrialization;
iii. their consumption patterns may be oriented towards the "basic needs -
goods and services produced - by relatively labour-intensive
technologies;
iv. they may sustain a higher rate of growth because of their relatively
higher propensity to save, a lower rate of absenteeism, and greater work
intensity.
 Effect on labour force participation
i. To the extent migrants are identifiable as such, they may be discriminated against in
their search for work because of ethnic, religious, tribal, caste and similar
considerations.
ii. Migrants are often considered to have a lower degree of commitment to work than
natives and may, therefore, be less preferred by the employers.
iii. Both these factors may result in discriminatory wage rates and a less favourable
employment situation for migrants which may reduce their participation in the labour
force.
iv. If migrants have a relatively higher rate of economic activity, and if their negative
influence on wages is not strong, then migration is more likely to increase the urban
participation rates. Moreover, migrants do not always compete for jobs with natives;
sometimes, they take up jobs with the natives; sometimes, they take up jobs which the
natives refuse, or create new jobs for themselves, particularly in the informal sector.
 •Effect on availability of urban amenities and economies of scale
i. The influx of migrants into cities increase the demand for
infrastructural facilities and social services such as schools and
hospitals, transport and communications, water, drainage and electricity
provision, and cultural and recreational facilities.

ii. Most of the cities are unable to meet the growing demand for these
services, as they often require large overhead investments.

iii. The influx of migrants is also likely to push up rents and land values.
However, if migrant workers are concentrated in construction and
low-level jobs in the services sector, their presence may lower the costs
of providing housing and other amenities.
Effect on urban income distribution
i. If the majority of migrants enter low-income jobs, the direct
and immediate impact of their arrival in the urban area will
be the worsening of the urban income distribution.
ii. Migration is also likely to have some effect on urban wages.
To the extent increased supply of migrant labour depresses
wage levels, particularly of workers with little or no skills, it
would render the distribution of urban income still more
unequal
 Effect on urban development

i. The net economic impact of migration on the urban areas largely

depends on the types of migrants involved, and on their
characteristics.

ii. If it is relatively younger and more productive individuals who tend

to dominate the migration flows, we may expect that they will benefit
their destination areas by increasing the proportion of the labour force
in prime working ages.

iii. If migrants bring skills needed by the destination areas, these areas
will benefit in so far as they are able to utilise the skilled manpower
educated at the expense of the origin areas.
 Effect on demographic structure of urban population
i. As mentioned earlier, migration is generally selective of
younger persons. On an average, this would tend to lower the
crude death rates in the urban areas.
ii. If migration is not heavily selective of males, young migrant
women may also increase the city's proportion of women in the
peak childbearing years.
iii. The cumulative effect of these changes in the age and sex
composition of population can be a rapid rise in the size of
urban labour force.
MIGRATION
MEASUREMENT
PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF DATA ON INTERNAL MIGRATION
Censuses, population registers and sample surveys are the main sources of
information on internal migration. Census has been the major source of
information on internal migration.
Since 1881 in India the information on place of birth has been regularly
collected.
From 1961 the information on the following are collected:
(a) Birth Place
(b) Whether born in village or town
(c) Duration of residence
The scope of data on migration was further expanded 1971 census and
following questions were put to each individual:
1.Birth Place- Place of Birth, Rural/Urban, District , State/Country
2. Last Residence- Place of last residence, Rural/Urban, District, State/Country
3. Duration of last residence at the village or town of enumeration
In 1981 census of India, in addition to the above, individuals were asked to
give reasons of migration
INDIRECT METHODS

Some of the indirect methods of estimation of internal as

well as international migration are as follows.
1. National Growth Rate Method
2. Vital Statistics Methods
3. Survival Ratio Methods
NATIONAL GROWTH RATE METHOD

Let the estimated intercensal net migration rate from

area i be mi, then it is defined as:

The assumption involved in the above method is that

the country is closed to international migration
 VITAL STATISTICS METHOD (RESIDUAL METHOD)
When the reliable statistics of birth and deaths are
available for the area, net migration can be obtained by
balancing equation;
Net intercensal migration = (Pit+n-Pit) - (B-D)
Pi – Population of area
T+n- National population at that time
B and D are the number of births and deaths occurred to
the residents of the area during the intercensal period.
(Quality of Registration?)
Estimating net migration
In the absence of direct data, generally estimated as residual

•Let I = Number of in-migrants

•O = Number of out-migrants
•P0= Population at time 0
•Pt= Population at time t
•B = Number of births
•D = Number of death
•Net Migration = (I –O) = (Pt – P0) – (B –D)
ESTIMATION OF MIGRATION BY SURVIVAL RATIO
METHOD
Census Survival Ratio Method (CSR Method): Net Migration among
survivors of persons aged x for year i:
THE END