Globalization and the Urban Migration of Young Women

1.1 How is migration measured?

A person counts as a migrant when their usual place of residence has changed. The migration rate is the share of migrants in a group.

The MoSPI survey used here covers July 2020 to June 2021. Its figures are for all of India.

1.2 How many women are migrants?

The survey puts the female migration rate at 47.9 per cent. The male rate is 10.7 per cent.

So nearly half of the women in the survey had changed their usual residence. Only about one man in ten had.

1.3 Why is the women's rate so high?

Look at the reasons in the next card. Most of these women moved at marriage. That one reason lifts the whole rate.

1.4 What is the usual mistake?

Students read ‘many women migrants’ as ‘many women moving for jobs’. The survey does not say that. A high rate and a job-driven rate are two different things.

2.1 What reasons do female migrants give?

The survey asked each migrant for the reason for moving. Marriage was the answer for 86.8 per cent of female migrants.

A move for marriage means the person changed her usual residence because of marriage. It is not a job move.

2.2 What are the other reasons?

• Parent or earning member moved: 7.3 per cent.
• Employment or work (to take up a job, business or transfer): 0.7 per cent.
• Studies: 0.6 per cent.

2.3 Does the city change the picture?

Source: MoSPI, Migration in India 2020-21, reasons table. Rural and urban columns are for migrants living in those areas.

2.4 What does the table not tell us?

The survey records one main reason per migrant. A woman who moved at marriage and later took a job is counted under marriage. So work may be under-counted. This is our own reading, and the report’s own numbers do not measure it.

3.1 How many women are in the labour force?

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) is the percentage of people who are working, seeking work or available for work. The Periodic Labour Force Survey measures it.

For women aged 15 and above, the usual-status rate was 23.3 per cent in 2017-18. It was 41.7 per cent in 2023-24.

3.2 How did the rate move year by year?

Source: MoSPI, PLFS Annual Report 2023-24 press note. The male rate rose from 75.8% to 78.8% over 2017-18 to 2023-24.

3.3 Does a rising rate mean more women move for work?

Not by itself. This is our own reading. The two surveys measure different things. LFPR counts women who work or seek work wherever they live. The migration report counts why people changed their residence.

So you can cite both numbers in an answer. But do not claim one proves the other.

4.1 What is Sakhi Niwas?

Sakhi Niwas is the working women hostel scheme. It is a demand-driven, centrally sponsored scheme under Mission Shakti. The aim is safe and conveniently located accommodation where jobs exist.

4.2 Who can stay there?

The page lists working women who are single, widowed, divorced or separated. It also lists married women whose husband or immediate family does not live in the same area. Women under job training are covered too.

There is an income test. Gross income must not exceed Rs 50,000 a month in metros, or Rs 35,000 a month elsewhere.

4.3 What help is there for mothers?

A day care centre for the residents’ children is an important part of the scheme.

4.4 What protects a woman at her workplace?

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is called the POSH Act. It aims at a safe working environment for women across all sectors.

The PIB says it covers public and private workplaces, organized or unorganized, including domestic workers. It defines an aggrieved woman as any woman of any age, whether employed or not.

4.5 What is the usual mistake?

Students think the POSH Act covers only big offices. The PIB note says organized and unorganized workplaces are both covered.

5.1 Who wrote about household bargaining?

Amartya Sen wrote a 1987 UNU-WIDER working paper called Gender and Cooperative Conflicts. We could not read the paper, so we do not describe its argument here. Read it before you quote it.

5.2 How can income shape family bargaining?

This is our own reasoning, not a source claim. A woman with her own income may have more say in family choices. Her family may also resist a daughter who lives alone. Our sources do not measure either effect.

5.3 What did UPSC ask?

5.4 How can you plan the answer?

This is our own plan, not an official key. Cover the drivers first. Then discuss personal freedom, then family relations. End with the limits.

• Drivers: services and factory jobs, study, higher LFPR (41.7 per cent in 2023-24).
• Freedom: income, mobility and choices. Add that the migration report shows marriage as the top reason.
• Family: bargaining, resistance and support.
• Limits: safety and housing. Mention Sakhi Niwas and the POSH Act.

6.1 Which numbers should you keep?

• Female migration rate: 47.9 per cent, 2020-21.
• Marriage: 86.8 per cent of female migrants.
• Female LFPR: 23.3 per cent (2017-18) to 41.7 per cent (2023-24).
• Sakhi Niwas income limits: Rs 50,000 in metros, Rs 35,000 elsewhere.

6.2 How do you solve a three-statement question?

Test each statement alone. Then pick the option.

So statements 1 and 3 are right and statement 2 is wrong.