Determinants of temporary labour migration in southern India

ABSTRACT

We present new data from three village panchayats in northwest Tamil Nadu and investigate the associations between demographic and socioeconomic factors with temporary labour migration from this setting. Individual (n = 1110) and household (n = 278) level logistic regression models were used to demonstrate how factors at each of these levels can influence temporary labour migration trajectories. Young males were most likely to temporarily migrate for work from this region. Additionally, large households from historically disadvantaged castes with marginal land and housing were most likely to have at least one migrant member. Households with multiple migrant members appear to use temporary migration to cope with serious deprivation relative to households with only one migrant member. These findings provide a strong case that can be compared to other settings in India and can be used to inform improved policy and targeted development initiatives to support temporary migrant workers and their households.

KEYWORDS:

• India
• Tamil Nadu
• temporary migration
• development
• socioeconomic factors
• demography

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank DHAN Foundation and specifically the field office in Anchetty for logistical and research support. We also thank S. Shankara Gowda and T. Madhe Gowda for research and translation assistance and Matthew Little for research support. We are thankful for the insights and support of other collaborators on the RESMISA project and gratefully acknowledge additional financial support through an International Development Research Centre Doctoral Research Award, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Vanier Scholarship, and an Ontario Veterinary College Doctoral Fellowship (Canada). The authors declare no competing financial interests. The views expressed here are those of the authors alone.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Warren Dodd http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0774-7644

Notes

1 Village panchayats are intended to be autonomous local self-governing bodies charged with ensuring representation of marginalised groups and government sponsored development initiatives (Johnson, Deshingkar, & Start, 2005).

2 The research team was unable to access precise village-level demographic information from village panchayat offices. Instead, these were obtained through at least three (3) independent estimates of the number of households in every village included in this study. These estimates were provided by survey respondents. In the event of any discrepancy between the estimates of respondents, the estimates were averaged to determine the number of households in a specific village.

3 The Most Backward Caste (MBC) is a term used by the government of Tamil Nadu to designate a group of castes that were historically marginalised and eligible for specific government benefits and welfare benefits together with OBC, SC, and ST households.

4 At the univariate level, education was associated with sex, age, and individual-level migration. More specifically, males had a higher level of education than females, middle-aged individuals had the highest level of education compared to younger and older individuals included in the study, and migrants had a higher level of education than non-migrants.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for the RESMISA project provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) through the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF).