It looks like this initiative is suiting the villagers well with more migrating to urban cities every year. However, I wonder what impact it has on the cities and the labor already present, whether they have higher level of unemployment or reduced wages due to competition. I would also think that in these months the city gets more populated and there is a higher burden on accommodation as the villagers don't have permanent homes in the city. Overall it looks like this is good for the economy and a solution to the poverty trap these villagers usually face.
https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21735597-paying-poor-rural-families-send-seasonal-workers-city-seems-work
3 comments:
First, going off of what Sree Jotin (in the article) said, I wonder how this movement affects the pollution in the city from this movement of people. Also, I wonder if this seasonal movement will start to shift to a permanent move for entire families.
This temporary migration was a topic that we talked a lot about in Economic Development. The benefits that a person from a rural area receives from working in an urban area during the low season is obviously very high. However, as pointed out in the original post it really makes an impact on the job market for those who live in urban areas year round. Additionally, it contributes to overcrowding which can in turn make living conditions a lot worse. The movie Salam Bombay! paints a very vivid picture of this problem showing migrant workers living on the streets in slums trying to make enough money to bring to their families back home.
I would argue that this would not be a very sustainable way of looking at things and as more farmers would move to the city, the impact on the environment, labor market, and infrastructure should also be considered. The overall impact can be detrimental to the populations already residing in urban areas. An alternative to this could be to microfinance other rural projects that are available during the season of unemployment or maybe promote industrialization in these areas that would enhance the manufacturing sector in the long run.
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