IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025issue-9p175-183.html

Migration and Household Welfare: An Empirical Study of Left-Behind Families in Rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Dr Niti Arora

    (Associate Professor-Economics Mata Sundri College for Women University of Delhi)

Abstract

This research examines socio-economic and non-economic effects of migration on left-behind families in India. A research design of descriptive and analytical research method was adopted in which 400 households were sampled using structured questionnaires as method of data collection. Its results indicate a quite strong positive effect of migration on household income, improved spending on education and medical services, and leads to the overall improved economic welfare. Nevertheless, this is not without burdens and emotional demands, more responsibilities, mostly on women, and psychological pressure to children. The confirmation of the dual-prong nature of the impacts of migration is seen through statistical outcomes of paired t-tests, chi-square test and regression analysis. This study indicates that though migration is a significant livelihood strategy, specific policy interventions are required to deal with non-economic issues of families that are left behind. The study also provides beneficial information to policy formulators, social workers, and practitioners, as well as philanthropies involved in rural development who may benefit by learning how to code a comprehensive approach to migrant-sending areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Dr Niti Arora, 2025. "Migration and Household Welfare: An Empirical Study of Left-Behind Families in Rural India," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(9), pages 175-183, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-9:p:175-183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-9/175-183.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/migration-and-household-welfare-an-empirical-study-of-left-behind-families-in-rural-india/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francisca Antman, 2012. "Gender, educational attainment, and the impact of parental migration on children left behind," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(4), pages 1187-1214, October.
    2. Lu, Yao, 2012. "Household migration, social support, and psychosocial health: The perspective from migrant-sending areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 135-142.
    3. Mathias Czaika & Marc Vothknecht, 2014. "Migration and aspirations – are migrants trapped on a hedonic treadmill?," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Adams, Richard H. & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2013. "The Impact of Remittances on Investment and Poverty in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 24-40.
    5. Chinmay, Tumbe, 2011. "Remittances in India: Facts and Issues," MPRA Paper 29983, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Démurger, Sylvie & Wang, Xiaoqian, 2016. "Remittances and expenditure patterns of the left behinds in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 177-190.
    2. Khandker Wahedur Rahman, 2023. "International migration and the religious schooling of children in the home country: evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1963-2005, July.
    3. Abbas, Faisal & Bang, James T. & Mitra, Aniruddha, 2023. "Remittances and Vaccine Hesitancy in the Punjab Province of Pakistan," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1308, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Bargain, Olivier B. & Boutin, Delphine, 2014. "Remittances and Child Labour in Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso," IZA Discussion Papers 8007, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Justin Sunny & Jajati K. Parida & Mohammed Azurudeen, 2020. "Remittances, Investment and New Emigration Trends in Kerala," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 25(1), pages 5-29, June.
    6. Agadjanian, Victor & Hayford, Sarah R. & Jansen, Natalie A., 2021. "Men's migration and women's mortality in rural Mozambique," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    7. Hajer Habib, 2023. "Remittances and Labor Supply: Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 1870-1899, June.
    8. Debelo Bedada Yadeta & Fetene Bogale Hunegnaw, 2022. "Effect of International Remittance on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 383-402, June.
    9. Nikolova, Milena & Roman, Monica & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2017. "Left behind but doing good? Civic engagement in two post-socialist countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 658-684.
    10. Fu, Yao & Jordan, Lucy P. & Zhou, Xiaochen & Chow, Cheng & Fang, Lue, 2023. "Longitudinal associations between parental migration and children's psychological well-being in Southeast Asia: The roles of caregivers' mental health and caregiving quality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    11. Egger Eva-Maria, 2021. "Migrating out of mega-cities: Evidence from Brazil," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-35, January.
    12. Jia Wu & Junsen Zhang, 2017. "The Effect of Parental Absence on Child Development in Rural China," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 117-134, January.
    13. Mazzucato, Valentina & Cebotari, Victor & Veale, Angela & White, Allen & Grassi, Marzia & Vivet, Jeanne, 2015. "International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 215-224.
    14. Wang, Feng & Lin, Leesa & Lu, Jingjing & Cai, Jingjing & Xu, Jiayao & Zhou, Xudong, 2020. "Mental health and substance use in urban left-behind children in China: A growing problem," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    15. Bharati Basu & Irudaya Rajan, 2018. "Investment Expenditure Behavior of Remittance Receiving Households: An Analysis Using Reserve Bank of India Data," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 15(3), pages 303-320, July.
    16. Fatimah, Alfariany Milati & Kofol, Chiara, 2023. "Migrating for children’s better future: Intergenerational mobility of internal migrants’ children in Indonesia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Bierkamp, Sina & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2021. "Environmental income and remittances: Evidence from rural central highlands of Vietnam," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    18. Imad El Hamma, 2018. "Migrant Remittances and Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Development and Institutional Quality," Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), issue 503-504, pages 123-142.
    19. Yulan Liu & Zihong Deng & Ilan Katz, 2022. "Transmission of Educational Outcomes Across Three Generations: Evidence From Migrant Workers’ Children in China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2563-2595, October.
    20. Ambrosius, Christian & Cuecuecha, Alfredo, 2014. "Do remittances increase borrowing?," Discussion Papers 2014/19, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-9:p:175-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.