Marital status differentials in rural to city migration in India

Following the comparative method of analysis, this paper examines the marital status characteristics of rural to urban migrants in 3 Indian states-Biharm West Bengal, and Kerala. The discussion is based on the Census of India, 1971. The main thrust of this paper is that as these 3 states tend to differ markedly in terms of the social and cultural value system, the marital status characteristics of migrants also differ between states. Important findings emerging from this study are as follows. 1) Singles are more migratory than marrieds where singles are more likely to be males than females. 2) Similarly married females are greater migrants than married males. 3) However, these differences by sex are much less marked in Kerala than in Bihar and West Bengal. Married migrants tend to migrate alone rather than with their family in Bihar and West Bengal, while in Kerala family migration is more common than individual migration.