Issues of Horizontal Inequality: A Case Study in Migrant Households R.M.K.M.Lakmini and J. Weerahewa Department of Agricultural Economics and Business Management Faculty of Agriculture University of Peradeniya 1

Introduction Horizontal Inequality Estate Sector How Estate Sector differ from other two sectors in the country??? – Income – Food ratio – Poverty – Population contribution Thereby Estate Sector is considered as a unique segment of an underprivileged community. 2

Introduction Contd. People tend to move out from estate employment both locally & overseas. Within non-estate employment, overseas employment, predominantly in the Middle East was a key agent of change (CEPA, 2005) BUT do all of them achieve success? 3

Objective To investigate the extent to which socio-economic characteristics influence the expenditure pattern. – To compare expenditure behavior of better-off and worse- off migrant households as perceived by the society in terms of budget share allocation for different expenditure categories 4

Methodology Sampling framework – List of female migrant households obtained from divisional office from Kiribathgala estate in Rathnapura Sample size - 52 Key Informants Evaluation Stratification of better off and worse off households Questionnaire Survey - Structured questionnaire 5

From the questionnaire, Socio –economic factors Information on migration process Information on following expenditure items, Food Education Consumer Durables Housing Household utilities 6 Methodology Contd.

Method of Analysis Budget shares were calculated using, ABS = C i ∕ INC i Factors affecting budget share allocation for different expenditure categories were estimated by using Working-Leser Model. C i /INC = β i + γ i (logINC) + λ ij ( Z j )+ ε C i = Household expenditure on one of expenditure items during migratory period INC= Total income during migratory period Z j = Vector of the household characteristic variable ε = Error term 7

Results 8 General Sample Characteristics

9 Results Contd.

10 Results Contd. Major reasonsPercentage Insufficient income57.7 Better job/income9.6 Indebtness38.5 Housing65.4 Children education30.8 To save3.8 Personal reasons15.4 Major reasons for migration

11 Results Contd.

12 Results Contd.

13 Results Contd.

14 Results Contd. Average Budget Shares on Expenditure for Better-off and Worse-off Households

15 Results Contd. Regression Results VariableFoodEducationHousing Consumer Durables Utilities Log of total household income(Rs) ** Household Size 0.022* *** Age of household head(years) * Sex of household head *-0.141***0.06** Number children in household less than 5 years Education level of household head *** *** Employment Receipts of Social transfers Number of migrations *-0.033** Dummy for worse/better off *0.0561* *-0.008** Adjusted R * - Significant at 10% Confidence Interval ** - Significant at 5% Confidence Interval *** - Significant at 1% Confidence Interval

Conclusion There is a difference between better off and worse off households The better off households spend less on consumption food and utilities and more on education and consumer durables than worse off households 16

Thank you 17