Male Selective Migration for Work: A Study of The National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi

Migration is the most important component of population dynamics affecting the demography of cities. In India, nearly two-third of the population in 2011 was migrant population. Given the rapid rate of urban growth accompanied by aspirations of economic development, the internally migrant population has and is expected to play a major role in shaping not only the future population dynamics but also the socio-economic landscape. It is generally hypothesized that out-migration for work is ‘male-selective’ and even though females are more migratory than males (E.G. Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration, 1885), when it comes to migration to large industrial-commercial centres for work, males outnumber females. The migrant population modifying the demography of urban India is already manifested in the top-heavy urban structure and the adverse sex ratio in some of the largest urban centres of the country. This paper using the case of the NCT of Delhi has tried to examine whether migration to the national capital for work is male-selective. The migration for work to Delhi is certainly male-selective and males outnumber females by a factor of 12. Most of the in-migrants to Delhi are literate, for both genders. However, a major proportion of in-migrant male workers are educated only up to the senior secondary level. On the other hand, proportion of women workers with graduate or higher degrees is higher than for males. However, when all types of in-migrants of considered, there is almost parity between males and females.