IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joprea/v42y2025i4d10.1007_s12546-025-09398-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring migration of older persons in India: pattern, characteristics, and determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Vasim Ahamad

    (International Institute for Population Sciences)

  • Ram B. Bhagat

    (International Institute for Population Sciences)

Abstract

Understanding the migration of older persons in India raises several critical questions: What are the levels and patterns of older persons’ migration? What differences exist between migrants and stayers in terms of their demographic, social, and economic characteristics? What factors determine migration later in life? A cross-sectional data set, the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), is introduced regarding migration studies in India. Descriptive statistics are used to examine the migration level and pattern, most importantly, the socioeconomic and health characteristics of older migrants. After that, the study examined the association of determinants with older persons’ migration using multivariable logistic regression analysis. In India, 3.3% of the total older persons migrated after the age of 60. Among the females, the migration level was 4%, while among the males, the level of migration was only 2.6%. A majority of the migrants (77.5%) follow intra-state migration, while 42.7% of total migration occurs through rural-to-urban streams. The logistics regression results show that a person’s socioeconomic condition, health status, housing, and living structure significantly determine migration later in life. After adjusting all factors in the model, the result shows that higher age, urban residence, higher education level, not working status, depression condition, and good house quality were significant factors and positively associated with migration of older persons in India. The insights gleaned from the study of older persons’ migration distribution and determinants in India can significantly inform the formulation of policies and the execution of programs tailored to reducing the challenges faced in later life migration, such as healthcare access, suitable housing, and family support.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasim Ahamad & Ram B. Bhagat, 2025. "Measuring migration of older persons in India: pattern, characteristics, and determinants," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:42:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s12546-025-09398-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12546-025-09398-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12546-025-09398-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12546-025-09398-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:spr:joprea:v:42:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s12546-025-09398-7. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.