An Analysis of Male Internal Migration and Its Correlation to Employment Status: Evidence from the Punjab

Abstract

Migration plays a pivotal role in the reallocation of human resources under changing demand and supply conditions. Migration takes place when an individual decides that it is preferable to move rather than to stay and where the difficulties of moving seem to be less than the expected rewards. In recent years there has been a trend of increasing migration rates. The United Nations (2000) estimates that about 140 million persons (roughly 2 per cent of the world’s population) reside in a country where they are not born.1 Usually migration takes place from the regions that are associated with poverty and insecurity towards regions which offer greater security of life, employment and basic social services. Poverty pushes people to migrate to urban areas-the outcome, the world’s urban population approaches 2.3 billion by 1990 with 61 per cent living in the metropolitan areas of developing countries and touches 66 per cent in 2000 (United Nations). Within the world Asia has about 15 of the largest cities of the world and most of them are growing at more than 5 per cent per annum. Increased rate of natural growth, immigration and rural-urban migration might be the causes of such a high rate of growth of urban population.

Does Rural–Urban Migration Improve Employment Quality and Household Welfare? Evidence from Pakistan

“…In Pakistan, most of the analysis on migration used the primary data from population censuses, labor force surveys, and special surveys such as migration and labor force surveys. Several studies have analyzed the patterns and trends of internal and external migration, covering a wide range of issues, including interprovincial and intraprovincial migration [35], determinants of internal migration [36][37][38][39], the gender dimensions of internal migration [40], and the impact of migration on development [41]. However, with the exception of Rashid [35] and Irfan [42], no studies have been conducted to determine the impact of migration on rural households' well-being.…”