NAME : Roy Njoroge Boro

REG. NUMBER : HDC223-0368/2019

COURSE : BSc. Public Management and Development

UNIT CODE : HDS 2109 Rural and Urban Sociology

LECTURER : Maureen Wanjiru

ASSIGNMENT : Discuss rural-urban migration, its causes, push and pull and the effects of
rural urban migration in both urban areas and rural areas using relevant
examples.

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Introduction

Rural-urban migration is the movement of people from rural areas to urban centers in search of
employment and better living conditions among others. Rural-urban migration is most prevalent
in developing countries. Rural-urban migration is facilitated by push and pull factors that forces
the people to influx from country side to cities.

Push and pull factors that contribute to Rural-urban migration.

Push and pull factors include unemployment, agricultural change, poor living conditions like
housing, healthcare and education, drought, famine, natural disasters, war and conflict.

Pull factors includes; employment, higher incomes, better healthcare and education, urban
facilities and way of life and protection from war and conflict. Although rural-urban migration is
an integral part of development it is significant for people to understand its causes and
consequence for formulation and implementation of effective policies to encourage economic
growth. Rural urban migration being flexible and dynamic phenomena cause diversification with
a certain degree of commitment. People migration links people transferring them from low
opportunities to high opportunities.

Effects of Rural-urban migration in both rural and urban areas explained using relevant
examples.

Cost of rural-urban migration outweigh benefits resulting in expansion of cities and towns thus
excessive urbanization. Urban planners and decision makers are more concerned with causes and
consequences of rural-urban migration and their relationship with economic growth and
urbanization. Although rural-urban migration is an integral part of development it is significant
for people to understand its causes and consequences for formulation and implementation of
effective policies to encourage economic growth. Issues faced in rural areas trigger people’s
mitigation to urban areas. Those people living in rural areas are willingly and unwillingly part of
economic system.

Movement of people from rural areas to urban center is triggered by voluntary and involuntary
forces. Involuntary are the factors that force people to migrate with no choice but to move this
are the pull factors. Migration Forces People may involuntarily move from rural to urban areas as

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a result of family disagreements, wars, conflicts, draught, famine, and political strife. These
factors force people to seek refuge in urban areas where they can have access to security food
and far from political strife.

Voluntary factors such as better employment opportunities force people to move to urban areas.
The quality of employment in urban areas is better than in rural. In rural areas people have little
education and their payment is low. Those who have migrated to urban areas have gained
incentives through better pay and well-paying jobs. Housing conditions in rural areas is worse
compared with urban areas; people may voluntarily decide to move to urban areas to have access
to better living conditions such as better healthcare, education and housing.

Rural land tenure and pattern of inheritance is another factor resulting in voluntary rural urban
migration. This causes problem if land tenure is communal whereby you find that land is owned
by a group of people thus individual having no authority to protect or own the land. This causes
conflict during land sharing forcing many people to be landless thus opting to move to urban
centers. Rural social structure and cultural values may cause conflict among rural population
forcing some people to move to urban areas.

Different ethnic communities have different cultural values and social structures which may
differ resulting to cultural conflicts thus people’s migration to urban areas where they cannot
experience cultural conflicts. Rural people when offered with better options of earning living
which are not demanding like rural farming and which is more financially rewarding, they are
likely to accept. Depending on the country, farming gives seasonal employment with no enough
income to sustain rural people thus being forced to move to urban areas in search for better and
well-paying jobs.

Issues faced in rural areas- During economic recession they are the first people to be affected.
This triggers their movement from rural to urban for search of better opportunities. People in
rural areas are exposed to films, radio programs and recent television series from cities. When
exposed to this urban life, their living conditions decline due to exploitation of resource in need

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of living like those in urban areas where they can have better life with access to all these
facilities.

This forces some people especially young incase the land ownership in the rural was communal
they move to urban centers where they can be accommodated without congestion.

Influence by outside developed world on people’s culture contributes to people’s movement to

urban areas. Media influence has made people recognize their state or poverty.

This has made people think of change and they think the only option to move to urban center for
white collar jobs and better living conditions. Peoples perception of better life changes their
success in rural areas: people have changed their notions about education and holding higher
positions. This has facilitated peoples’ movement from rural areas to urban in search of better
education which can lead to higher incomes thus increasing their future income. Increase in
income increases peoples’ consumption. People believe that by having first hand accounts their
living conditions will be improved in urban areas. Poverty is experienced globally in third world
nations especially by rural population.

Developmental policies in various countries are more concerned with poverty alleviation
resulting to economic growth. Most people in developing nations live under the poverty line. In
those countries with an agriculturally based economy, those residents who are poor lack access
to resources thus high level of inequitable and inequality distribution of resources. Most people
living in rural areas are women and children who practice subsistence farming.

Poverty contributes to people’s movement from rural to urban areas in search of better well-
paying jobs to alleviate poverty. Urban informal sector which consists of activities of all kind
which are unregulated and small scale in nature. Most people in urban areas create their own
employment, start their businesses and even work as a small-scale family enterprise these jobs
include, street vending, hawking maize roasting and even prostitution. Others find better jobs
like artisans, mechanics, carpenters, barbers, personal servants and even maids.

Some become successful business people with several employees thus earning more income.
Those people venturing in informal work are usually rural migrants who have little skills and
they earn just enough income to sustain them. Informal sector has a link with formal sector and

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offers employment opportunities to those people who can’t access jobs in the formal sector.
Informal sector acts as a safety net for those rural people who fall back if things don’t work out
for them.

Information sector has been categorized among those factors causing rural urban migration since
it reduces individual risk of being unemployed once they migrate to cities. Government policies
to some extent cause rural urban migration. Those policies supporting disproportionate increase
employment opportunities and in wage rate in urban centres leads to imbalances in rural urban
landscape. Rural urban migration contributes to increased rate of unemployment in urban areas.

As a result of difference in wages, there are urban bias encouraging people to move from rural to
urban centres, thus urban bias resulting to rural urban migration. Modernization of agriculture,
contributes a lot towards rural urban migration especially in developing countries. Agricultural
modernization involves use 0f machines and artificial fertilizers for agriculture. This results to
need of few workers in the farm and in the farms and farmers do not always deserve require farm
manure but use fertilizers. This reduces employment opportunities for rural people especially
youths and men.

Those farmers who used to keep livestock lose market for their products like manure thus being
forced to look for alternatives in urban areas. Natural disasters like floods, earthquakes and
landslide contribute toward rural urban migration. These natural disasters destroy people’s
property and crops leading to poverty and insecurity. To seek for safety and alternatives people
prefer moving to urban areas where they have guaranteed safety from such disasters.

Other factors like primitive conditions in rural areas forces people to seek refuge in urban areas
such as bullying, death threats and disown from society as a result of a certain offence may force
one to seek refuge in urban areas where there is no cultural or community rules to be followed.
Poor chances of finding courtship may be a contributing factor in that; one may think that urban
areas have many people where s/he can have a chance of choosing from different people.

Rural urban migration being a flexible and dynamic phenomenon causes with a certain degree of
commitment. Migration helps in linking people and transferring them from low opportunities to
high opportunities. Rural urban migration contributes nearly to 60% of urban growth and it

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occurs at a particular setting which is marked by limited industrial but quick commerce centered
growth in cities.

Effects of Rural to Urban Migration in Urban Areas

Unemployment: Increased movement of people from rural areas results in a surplus workforce
in the urban areas. In this regard, many of those migrating are left unemployed. Moreover, due to
the surplus workforce, employers tend to pay low wages, which may force their employees into
harsh economic situations.

Poor sanitation: Rural to urban migration may lead to overcrowding in urban areas.
Overcrowding causes an increase in demand for low-cost housing for both the poorly paid
employees and the unemployed, resulting in the emergence of informal settlements and slums.
As observed in many third world countries, such slums lack proper sanitation, which exposes
residents to diseases like cholera.

Increase in crime rates: Unemployment resulting from surplus labor in urban areas is one of the
contributing factors for crime in inner city areas. Some unemployed youth join gangs and other
organized crime syndicates in order to make ends meet. Moreover, unemployment in urban areas
contributes to several social ills, such as drug abuse and prostitution.

Environmental pollution: Rural to urban migration may lead to overcrowding of urban areas,
which often results in increased motor vehicle emissions, industrial pollution and improper waste
disposal. In addition, without proper planning, increasing urban populations may lead to
stretched utility services, such as garbage collection and maintenance of drainage systems. This
not only pollutes the environment, but it also exposes individuals living in these areas to
unsanitary conditions, which can create health complications.

Shortage of basic amenities: As more people migrate into urban areas, the existing facilities,
such as hospitals and schools, may become overutilized. Overutilization of such amenities results
in poor service delivery to the general population.

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Health complications: Individuals living in congested urban areas are constantly exposed to
long hours in traffic, noise pollution, taxes and generally high costs of living. In this regard, such
individuals face several psychological and health challenges due to mental stress.

Effects of Rural to Urban Migration in Rural Areas

Reduced agricultural production: The migration of able-bodied individuals from rural areas to
urban areas results in a reduced rural workforce and decreases in agricultural productivity. This
affects food security because most agricultural crops are grown in rural areas.

Neglect of rural areas: As a result of growing concentrations of people in urban areas,

authorities tend to prioritize more resources to such areas. This may leave rural areas without
basic amenities, such as proper road networks, educational facilities and medical institutions.

Remittances to rural areas: Cash remittances sent by spouses and relatives are one of the main
advantages of rural to urban migration. These remittances assist in alleviating the living
conditions of people in rural areas.

Overall consequences of Rural-Urban Migration.

1. Uneven Distribution of Population

The urban areas have become densely populated at the expense of rural areas.
2. Congestion
Many urban areas are today congested as a result of mass movement of rural residents
into them.
3. Increased house rents

More people are now chasing the few houses in urban areas which leads to increase in
rent.

4. Escalation of unemployment

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 Many unemployed people reject job offers in rural areas and move to cities thereby
worsening the unemployment situation.
5. Increase in crime rate
Many unemployed people who moved away from the rural areas to cities with the hope
of getting employment, take to crime when their hopes are dashed in order to survive.
6. Agriculture is greatly affected
When the able-bodied people move to urban areas leaving children and the aged behind
in the rural areas to practice agriculture, this leads to shortage of labor force thus
affecting agriculture.
7. Increase in price of goods
The presence of many people, especially the unproductive, unemployed in the cities and
low agricultural productivity are some of the contributary factors to the increase in price
of goods.

8. Disparity in development
The dense population in urban areas attracts more government attention at the expense of
sparse population in the rural areas.
9. More business activities in urban centres.
Densely populated areas like our cities are the focus of business activities because
demand is always higher than in sparsely populated areas of the countryside.
10. Increase in political malpractices
Political violence is urban areas because of the presence of the many unemployed youths
from rural areas who constitute ready tools used by the politicians in achieving their
atrocious and selfish political aims.

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A case study on China's Young Rural-to-Urban Migrants: In Search of Fortune, Happiness,
and Independence

In 2009, there were 145 million rural-urban migrants in China, accounting for about 11 percent
of the total population. Among them, an estimated 85 million to 100 million were born after
1980 — a period when three distinct government policies converged to shape the circumstances
for increased rural-to-urban migration within China.

After its introduction in 1979, the controversial One Child Policy, which promoted late marriage
and delayed child bearing and limited the number of children born in rural families to 1.5 (two
for a first-born girl, otherwise one), was firmly implemented and shifted the vast rural China
household structure — and thus, agricultural workforce — dramatically to fewer children.

Then in the mid-1980s, the Hukou System — a residence registration system devised in the
1950s to record and control internal migration and which ultimately hindered rural-to-urban
movements — began to loosen in response to the demands of both the market and rural residents
wishing to seek greater economic opportunity in cities.

At the same time, China's "Reform and Open" economic policy was already on track for creating
unprecedented growth and ultimately resulted in a booming economy with increased incomes
across China and large foreign investments directed to the manufacturing industry in Eastern
urban areas. Slower income growth for rural families, increased demand for cheap labor in
China's new manufacturing sector, and booming development that encroached on rural lands
pushed a large amount of rural surplus labor to the cities.

These young rural-urban migrants are referred to as "new-generation" migrants, and this
population is becoming the driving force behind China's migrant labor.

According to a recent report by the China National Bureau of Statistics, 44.4 percent of new-
generation migrant workers are employed in the manufacturing industry compared to 31.5
percent of the previous generation. Construction, which was traditionally the primary magnet for

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rural-urban migrants, now draws just 9.8 percent of new-generation workers compared to 27.8
percent of the previous generation.

New-generation migrants are young, lack experience in the agricultural sector as well as in city
life, and face a variety of challenges. The National Bureau of Statistics report found that the first
migrating age of migrants born between 1980 and 1990 is 21.1, while the age for those who were
born after 1990 is 17.2 — considerably younger. Having migrated after limited years of
schooling, migrants face high pressure from work, low satisfaction in terms of their wages,
unsure self-identification (villager or citizen), and an overall lack of happiness.

The tragic string of 13 suicides in a factory owned by one of China's largest employers of rural
migrant workers, Taiwanese-owned Foxconn Technology Group, in Shenzhen City brought the
challenges of these new-generation migrants into focus. There are also indications that young
migrant workers are at a greater risk for falling victim to crime, and may have higher rates of
participation in crime. In 2010, for example, it was estimated that about one-third of urban
crimes were related in some way to new-generation migrants.

There is still much to learn about this cohort of rural-urban migrants. They may have more
individualistic goals and higher expectations than the previous generation, and thus might
demonstrate different migrating patterns, particularly in terms of their motivations for migrating,
choice of jobs, socioeconomic integration in cities, and their go-return patterns. This article
explores some of these issues by analyzing recently collected survey data.

The subsequent analysis is based on surveys conducted in December 2006 and February 2007 by
the author and a fieldwork team from the School of Social Development and Public Policy at
Beijing Normal University and Jinan University in Guangzhou. A total of 200 in-depth
interviews with randomly selected migrant workers in Guangzhou and the rural areas of Bozhou
(while the migrants were home for Spring Festival) were conducted, 86 of which were with new-
generation migrants born after 1980.

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Guangzhou was chosen because it is a major labor-receiving city in southern China. Bozhou is
on the border of Anhui and Henan Provinces, both of which are among the most heavily
populated labor-sending provinces in central China.

Migration Motivation

China's rural-to-urban population movement is largely viewed as a response to the economic

reform, and better employment opportunities in destination cities have generally been the main
determinant in the decision to migrate. For new-generation migrants, economic motivation is still
unquestionably the primary motivation behind their movements.

In our survey, however, we asked an open-ended question to ascertain the motivation behind
respondents' migration and attempted to discern primary and secondary reasons.

Primary Migration Motivation: "Why I left the Village"

In the interviews, we asked each of the migrant workers the question of why they first decided to
migrate out of the village. Instead of having been pushed by harsh economic times in the village,
it turns out many were pulled by opportunity and the excitement of city life.

Interestingly, being tired of school was one of the most frequent answers to the primary
migration motivation question, surpassing economic reasons. Many of our interviewees
expressed little interest in school and did not complete their compulsory nine years of education
before migrating. A secondary reason emerged, however, for not finishing school: the inability or
unwillingness to pay for schooling when job opportunities in cities became available. After
dropping out, the Chinese school enrollment structure all but precludes youth from going back to
school and continuing their education where they left off.

Attending a skills training school thus becomes a very important path for migrant workers who
want to improve their professional knowledge and skills. The most popular training schools
migrants attend are for computer, technology, sewing, construction, and beauty. Some factories

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provide on-the-job training for some unique techniques, such as operating a computer-assisted
sewing machine. Sometimes training schools and firms cooperate to educate and then provide
employment for rural students.

Many interviewees also mentioned the attraction of city life, broadcast as exceptional and exotic
by both earlier migrants returning to the village and the media, as a primary motivator in their
decision to migrate. A related motivator is the desire for material things and luxury items
available only to urban workers. We found throughout our interviews that these two
considerations, coupled with uncertainty regarding academic investment (despite relative
achievement), prompted many youth to migrate while especially young.

Quite a few of the younger migrants also shared the sentiment of wanting to migrate "for fun" or
to "explore the world." Some emphasized their curiosity or their boredom with village life, while
others noted the pursuit of freedom from their parents, an expected career, or an arranged
marriage.

Secondary Migration Motivation: "Why I Changed Jobs or Cities"

We asked respondents to reconstruct their migration history and explain why they chose each job
or decided to move to a new location. As with first migration motivations, we found that the
motivations behind the secondary migrations were complex and consisted of a variety of
noneconomic reasons.

The major noneconomic reasons for changing jobs included harsh or unfair treatment by
management, being overworked with insufficient pay, a desire to learn more skills and
techniques, and for individual development. Consistent with the overall mindset of new-
generation migrants, however, respondents in our study also cited fun, being with friends, and
being bored with the status quo as additional reasons to relocate.

For many years, rural-to-urban migration was associated with a tolerance of any task work:
Migrants never complained about poor or unfair treatment. With new-generation migrants,
however, this characterization is far from reality. Since life in the villages has been generally

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improved in most places and land has become increasingly scarce, the only child (or one of the
only two children) of a rural family is no longer used to heavy agricultural work at home. As a
result, they tend to choose light labor jobs, are highly preferential in the work they choose, and
are more likely to switch jobs if they feel they are being treated too harshly.

For rural-urban migrants who are under economic pressure, it is a luxury to pursue the career in
which they are really interested. But some of today's young migrants are doing just that. We
found that new-generation migrants often use their first job as a bridge to their second: They gain
experience, save money for additional training, and make contacts in order to build or work
toward career goals. Some also reported using second and third jobs in much the same way.

Meanwhile, young migrants who relocate for fun or freedom put more emphasis on their
personal lives, leisure time, the balance between work and play, and their right to enjoy life.

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References:

1. Agesa, Richard & Sunwoong Kim, “Rural To Urban Migration as A Household decision:
Evidence From Kenya, “Review of Development Economics, Vol. 5, 2001, page 60 – 75
2. Goldscheider, Calvin, Rural Migration in Developing Nations, Boulder and London:
Westview P, 2003 McCatty Machel, the process of Rural – Urban Migration in
Developing Countries, Ottawa: Ontario, Carleton University, 2004
3. Fan, Cindy. 2008. China on the Move: Migration, the State, and the Household. London
and New York: Routledge.
4. Fix, Michael, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-
Ying Lin, and Michelle Mittelstadt. 2009. Migration and the Global Recession.
Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

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