Migration Behavior within Socio-Cultural and Demographic Context: A Case Study of Faisalabad City, Pakistan

Migration is universal phenomena and people move from rural areas to urban areas, from developing countries to developed countries and from societies with stagnant economic conditions to societies for searching batter socio-economic status to address their economic and social needs. The nature of migration may be permanent or temporary depending on the nature and extent of needs of the migrants. Migration can effect positively or negatively the individuals, communities and nations directly and indirectly while migration from rural areas to urban areas in developing societies like Pakistan have more social, economic and cultural implications for the urban areas. The present study was designed to examine the various socio economic and demographic factors affecting migration behavior of the people. The respondents of the study were the male heads of families of the migrants. A sample of 120 respondents was taken from district Faisalabad. Interviewing, schedule was prepared in the light of research objectives for data collection. Descriptive analysis reflects that better education, better employment, better living status, better health facilities as reported by 80 %, 78.3 %, 75 %, and 72.5 % of the respondents respectively were the causes of their migration to the urban areas. The researcher also found that some cultural factors i.e. family conflict, family disorganization, and rough and tough control of family elders had positively impact on migration to urban area. The motivation of relatives and friends who lived in urban areas played a vital role in making final decision to migrate.