ABSTRACT
Female migration pattern in India encompasses enormous economic and social diversity. The traditional pattern of poverty induced female migration needs a re-examination with latest patterns of migration. This chapter attempts to understand role of female in migration beyond as marriage migrants and analyses the complex pattern of female mobility emerged in recent years in the course of development of the country. The chapter uses the information provided in the National Sample Survey (NSS) on reasons for migration, monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE), educational characteristics, pre- and post-employment status of migrants, duration of migration, to understand the female mobility. while illiteracy and poverty dominates as the major cause of female migration in the past, such trend is slowly changing in recent times. The increasing mobility of female for education further indicates that female migrates not only out of poverty but also a significant share of female from better off group also migrates in order to enhance the quality of life.
