Invisible Costs of Mobility: A Rural Sociological Analysis of Migration, Social Disruption, and Left-Behind Family Vulnerability in India

Abstract

Human mobility has emerged as one of the most significant demographic and socioeconomic processes shaping contemporary societies. Across developing economies, migration functions as a critical livelihood strategy through which households seek to diversify income sources, reduce economic vulnerability, and improve living standards. While migration has traditionally been examined from the perspective of migrants and destination regions, growing scholarly attention has shifted toward understanding its consequences for the family members who remain in places of origin. These "left-behind" populations, consisting primarily of women, children, and elderly family members, experience profound transformations in their social, economic, and emotional lives as a result of migration-induced family separation (De Haas, 2021).