Migration, circulation, and socioeconomic change in South Africa

Michael J. White, Brown University
Yashas Vaidya, Brown University
Mark Collinson, University of the Witwatersrand
Carren Ginsburg, University of the Witwatersrand

In this paper we analyze migration, specifically temporary migration, and its crucial but complex role in the well-being of rural households. We take advantage of long-duration panel data for a rural-district of South Africa: Agincourt Heath and Demographic Surveillance System. We analyze both the determinants and consequences of temporary migration. Our results indicate that better-off households are, adjusting for other features of their composition, somewhat more likely to send a temporary migrant. Our analyses also point to strong differentiation in the probability of migration by position in the household structure. Temporary migration confers modest socioeconomic benefits to the origin household in the case of male migrants; however, for women each year of temporary migration experience comes at a cost for decadal household asset status. All told, our results point to the extensive prevalence of temporary and circular migration and to its complex effects on the origin household.