Migration for hard work: a reluctant livelihood strategy for poor households in West Bengal, India

This paper reports some initial findings of a study of how migrants in India and Bangladesh and the household members that stay behind reduce the insecurities they face (including hunger,debt, ill-health and work-place exploitation) through drawing on available informal support, based in relationships with kin, neighbours, fellow migrants and even, at times, employers. The paper is divided into five sections. The second section briefly describes the context of the study and the methods used.

In the third section we go on to summarise some important changes that have occurred in the pattern of migration between 1999 and 2005.