The impact of rural to urban labour migration on rural family roles: a case study of kisa location of kakamega district

Abstract

This study was not on migration. It sought to look at the impact of rural to urban labour migration on the roles of the rural family. Migration was related to the role acting as migration was seen as one demographic processes that has played and continues to play a key role on the demographic composition of both the urban and rural areas. In the Problem statement, migration is related to family roles in a bid to explain some aspects of the rural social setting. Few if any studies have been devoted to this area. From the literature reviewed, it was noted that rural to urban labour migration has had an effect that was both negative and positive to the places of origin and places of destination of the migrants. While some of the migrants tends to support their families, rural to urban labour migration tends to not only increase urban housing pressure, urban unemployment but also affects role performance in the rural family. A detailed description of the area of study and the sampling techniques was given. A total of 200 respondents were interviewed. 100 respondents had migrants heads of household and 100 had the heads of household who were non migrants. The sampling frame was the 1989 census of household sub-location register. The household was used as the sampling unit while 'the housewife was the unit of analysis. A systematic random sampling method was used in selecting the respondents. The study attempted a univariate descriptive analysis of migrants and non migrants families in family role performance and migration. The major focus has been left with the overwhelming responsibility of providing its members with food. The family members have had to do with lack of adequate income, lack of proper infrastructure and continue to use rudimentary tools like the hoe in food production. There has been an attempt to look at some of the rural family roles and who performs them most often, thus hypothesising that rural to urban labour migration was the cause of the early school dropout, juvenile delinquency in children and overworking of the rural woman, chi-square and contingence coefficient to test our hypothesis. The results revealed that rural to urban labour migration was related to the overworking of the rural woman. It was also found out that there was no direct relationship between rural to urban labour migration and juvenile delinquency in children and school drop out. Unlike most of the studies on migration which concentrated on the migrant or his place of destination in this study interest has been on the rural family members. The bone of contention in the study is that the exodus to urban areas by mostly the men affects the rural family's unity, stability, kinship ties and population mechanisms. The role structure and performance is affected adversely leading to role conflicts and overworking of women. This has by implication far reaching effects on the general development of the area affected by rural to urban labour migration. The findings reveal that something needs to be done to the rural areas in order to encourage reverse migration. with the District Focus for Rural Development strategy, impressive measures have been taken by the government and policy makers to curb rural labour migration. The rural East Kisa family remains poverty stricken and affected by rural to urban labour migration. In conclusion the study asserts, that the rural woman and her family is overworked due to the migration of the males. This consequently makes her to be mostly in the home taking care of the family. without her involvement and entire participation in the process of rural development, like starting income generating projects, the general development of East Kisa location and Butere in general will continue to remain low.