Working Harder

Migration that results in remittance flow is an important means of livelihood generation, especially in developing countries. It has the potential to alter the working hours of the left behind members. This article examines the redistribution of labour within the household at origin that occurs in response to migration. It distinguishes the disruptive effect of migration from the income effect of remittance inflows to assess the expected impact in the rural labour market using panel data for India. Our results show that out-migration significantly reduces work hours of the left behind members, however the impact is contingent on the initial economic position of the household. Households that are economically well-off benefit from increased leisure hours, however members from the poorer households have to put in additional work hours to bear the cost of migration of a member. Similarly, households belonging to the historically deprived groups such as Adivasi and Dalits are found to be working more in response to migration. We also observe a decreasing labour supply response of women who are left behind in all forms of work except for their own farm. Working for more hours by left behind members is more pronounced for short term migration as the financial inflow from such short duration migration is not substantial

Labour supply · Left behind · Livelihood · Position (finance · Redistribution (election · Remittance · Work (physics · Agricultural risk and resilience · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Migration and Labor Dynamics