Emigration and It’s Comparative Economic Impact on Households: A Study of Northern Kerala with a Focus on Malappuram District

Migration has been identified as one of the dominant factors influencing the overall development of the world's major economies. Emigrants often send money home, enhancing their families' standards of living and thereby contributing both to the home economy and the nation’s trade balance. The study analyses the trends in emigration and foreign remittance of the districts with special reference to the Malappuram district by the comparative analysis of the households of the Northern districts of Kerala. This study also examines the relative economic gains of emigration in the households of the northern districts of Kerala. The study is primarily based on secondary data from the Kerala Migration Survey, 2018. The trend analysis and ANOVA test are mainly used for the analysis. The study found that Malappuram district has the distinction of sending out the largest number of emigrants from northern Kerala and the total remittances to the district have increased. The ANOVA test results show that Malappuram district has a comparative economic advantage over other northern districts in terms of household income and various spending categories. However, this increased income is mainly spent rather than saved or invested. The significant P-value (p<0.05) for all variables indicates that the mean differences are statistically significant.