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Male Worker Migration and Women Empowerment: The case of Bihar, India

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  • Singh, K.M.
  • Singh, R.K.P.
  • Kumar, Abhay
  • Kumar, Anjani

Abstract

Migration of population has been a recurrent phenomenon since the dawn of human history. Though its form has changed but it remains a dominant event in the global social system. In modern days also people migrate from underdeveloped areas to the developed ones in search of better opportunities. Several theories have been propounded to explain the occurrence of migration. A number of social, cultural, economic, spatial, climatic, demographic factors induce migration. Among them, the economic factors are considered as the primary reasons for inducing migration. Migration of male labour force from Bihar has increased during last two decades which prompted us to analyze its consequences on efficiency of input in agricultural production, livelihood through remittances and also the empowerment of women left behind at place of origin. It was observed that the efficiencies of human labour and irrigation in rice production were higher than non-migrant households and statistically significant, indicating rational use of these two critical inputs on migrant households in Bihar. The migration seems to have helped in judicious use of human labour at native place due to migration of surplus labour force for gainful employment to destination of migration. Remittances have been utilized for meeting consumption needs, improved livelihood, better education to children and better health care facilities which help in overall improvement in livelihood on migrant households in Bihar. Migrant households also preferred to save money to meet their requirements in unforeseen situations. It can thus be inferred that migration may be one of risk-coping strategies for the weaker sections of the society and has helped developing the saving habits among migrant households. The allocation of remittances on agricultural inputs could have increased if proper infrastructure facilities were present in rural areas for faster dissemination of modern agricultural technology for increasing agricultural production. Level of women employment has increased on migrant households, particularly on poor households; however, work load of women has also increased. It has been observed that role of women of migrant households changed from unpaid female labour to managers of the household, however, they face problem in management of fund, technology and input-output marketing. There is a need to launch a programme for their training to improve their knowledge in financial, technological and marketing management.

Suggested Citation

  • Singh, K.M. & Singh, R.K.P. & Kumar, Abhay & Kumar, Anjani, 2014. "Male Worker Migration and Women Empowerment: The case of Bihar, India," MPRA Paper 59676, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Oct 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:59676
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh, K.M. & Meena, M.S. & Kumar, Abhay & Singh, R.K.P., 2013. "Gender Issues in Agriculture," MPRA Paper 45401, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Jan 2013.
    2. J. Edward Taylor & Scott Rozelle & Alan deBrauw, 1999. "Migration, Remittances, and Agricultural Productivity in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 287-291, May.
    3. Singh, K. M. & Singh, R. K. P. & Meena, M. S. & Kumar, Abhay, 2011. "Dimensions of Poverty in Bihar," 2011 ASAE 7th International Conference, October 13-15, Hanoi, Vietnam 290427, Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE).
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    Cited by:

    1. Sandhya R. Mahapatro, 2018. "Impact of Labour Migration on Socioeconomic Position of Left-Behind Women in Bihar," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(4), pages 701-718, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Women empowerment; Labor migration; Remittances; Bihar;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • Q1 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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