Exploring key determinants of rural–urban youth migration in South Ethiopia: Evidence for policy and planning

Migration decisions are complex and influenced by multiple economic, social, cultural, and psychological factors beyond livelihoods. This study examined key factors determining youth migration. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select 384 sampled households. Descriptive statistics and binary logit model were employed to analyze the data. The study revealed that 57.55% of households had youth migrants to urban areas mainly due to livelihood challenges. Key determinants positively associated with rural-urban youth migration, as marginal effect values indicate, were age (+1.7%), family size (+4.1%), family/peer pressure (+68.3%), credit (+7.9%), and urban amenities (+69%), while non-farm income (−16.9%), household occupation (−49.2%), and land size (−0.5%) negatively affected youth migration. Age, lack of access to credit, family size, urban amenities, and non-farm income were significantly associated with youth migration. Policies should prioritize improving rural financial services, promoting income diversification by supporting family welfare programs to reduce distress-driven migration decisions.