Remittance Economies and Rural Transformation: Unpacking the Socio-economic Ripple Effects of Labour Migration

The current study explored the socio-economic changes experienced by the Gulf migrant families of Bihar. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire and cluster sampling procedures. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, and the paired sample t-test were used to evaluate the hypothesis and draw inferences. The results of the study confirmed that housing conditions, consumer durable goods ownership, and land ownership had significantly increased and improved. However, there was no significant improvement observed in the expansion of agricultural infrastructure, such as ownership of harvesting machines, tractors, etc. Further, the result showed that there was a significant difference in earnings, savings, and housing conditions between pre and post-migration periods, and economic prosperity improved access to medical and educational services for migrant families.