Population mobility and employment: A Case Study of the Athi River Township

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine and estimate the magnitude of factors that have influenced out-migration from the source~ areas of migrants in this study. The sample consisted of 245 heads of house-holds resident in the Athi River urban center at the time of the surveyed The obtained results have indicated that, amongst other things, intervening distance between the areas of origin and the Athi River township, low wage earning levels, low levels of Government per capita expenditure and high population density in the rural environment have stimulated out-migration from the rural origins of the migrants. The greatest impact on migration rates comes from the distance factor' and the mean wage- 8a~ning5 differentials Positiv2 migrant selectivity en the basis of Sex, and Age has been shown to have occurred amongst the migrants at their areas of origin while the potential retirees have been shown to have been negatively selected from the sample population on the basis of Age and Occupa1ion. The results have ~2en illustrated to be con6i~t~nt with pr2vious research work and they imply that rur31 t~ urban migration is both desirable and undesirHbJ.2 because while high I e v eLs of ac enom i c opportunity have attracted R 9 r 2 a t In, 3 n y 1 n - rn i 9 r a n t s L ri t c the TOtLl 11S hip , the grim.reality of low levels of economic opportuni ty in the rUT a l en v ir o nrn an t and r esul tant massive un empLoyvrmen t ar c axpu s ed , Furthermore, positiv2 migrant selectivity of the sample population points to the possibility of negative selectivity of the non-migrants in the rural environment and hence, t h e robbing of able h an d s from rural Bocio-economic development projects - an aspect of the migration process that needs further research.