Socio-economic characteristics of emigrants and emigrants' households. A case study of two villages in Kerala
Mathew, E.T.; Nair, P.R.G.
Economic and Political Weekly 13(28): 1141-1153
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-9976 Document Number: 496909
This paper presents the patterns of population flow from two adjacent pockets of emigration in Kerala in order to bring out the implications of economic and educational differences for the costs of and returns to emigration. The analysis is presented by means of a socio-economic description of the emigrants and their households. The practices followed in securing the 'No Objection Certificates'; the costs involved in emigration and the methods of raising finance to cover costs are discussed in Section 3. The employment and income status abroad (of the emigrants), the asset and income position of the households, the flow of inward remittances and the patterns of utilization by the recipients at home are tabulated and discussed in Section 4. Emigration is not confined to a homogeneous socio-economic group, costs of emigration vary inversely with economic and educational status while income operations are directly related. The impact of emigration has already shown in the size, sex-ratio, and age-structure of the population remaining, unemployment has not declined, and shortages of specific categories of labour are noticeable. The flow of inward remittances has tended to raise land values as well as the demand for labour and raw materials for construction.