ABSTRACT
Gender plays a key role in the causes and consequences of migration. Gender roles, relations, and inequalities influence who migrates, how, why, and where they migrate to. In Kerala, women are inclined to follow men in emigration. Through the statistical analysis of Kerala Migration Surveys, a new development was observed: unlike with emigrants, there were many more married women than married men among internal migrants. It was also established that even if households in the state consisted of men left behind, the proportion was incomparably lower than that of women left behind. Remittances were sent to women left behind in the state, making them the only decision maker or an important part in the decision-making process.
