{"id":73430,"date":"2026-06-26T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=73430"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T09:17:37","slug":"migration-takes-a-toll-on-womens-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/article\/health\/migration-takes-a-toll-on-womens-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Migration takes a toll on women\u2019s mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Gender Watch | What does migration cost women?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TtU1f5z6saI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Jharkhand, <a href=\"https:\/\/iimad.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/salx20170525s-irudaya-rajan-et-al.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">89.6 percent<\/a> of labour migrants are men. The farming season lasts six months. After that, there is little work, so they migrate in the hope of an increased income. And the women stay back to look after the household.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They manage repairs, children&rsquo;s education, medicines for the elderly, and take decisions that were never theirs to make alone. They carry a constant sense of worry. They navigate community scrutiny every time they step outside the house. And they do all of this without any formal support, because no government programme is designed for them.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0277953621003142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Research<\/a> shows that wives of migrants in India consistently rate their own health lower than that of wives of non-migrants. The effect is linked to irregular remittances, broken communication, and extended separation.<\/p><div class=\"idron-article-in-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\" id=\"idron-1950870218\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idranswers.idronline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png\" alt=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-1024x205.png 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-150x30.png 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-768x154.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this video, Pinky Barda, mukhiya of Kuju Gram Panchayat, Seraikela Kharsawan, speaks about what this weight feels like, and how the women in her panchayat rely on one another.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&mdash;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-know-more\">Know more<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/34023710\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more<\/a> about the mental health impact of labour migration on families in India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explore IDR&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLasdxcnPExlBBtLa_UkCNYE0fYU_OjsRD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gender Watch series<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"idron-troublemakers-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" id=\"idron-2607860354\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"donate banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg\" alt=\"donate banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-150x30.jpg 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-768x154.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":73434,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[21,9,582],"tags":[141,3672,496],"series":[3388],"meta-filter":[],"schema-filter":[743],"no-display":[],"class_list":["post-73430","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","category-health","category-instagram","tag-mental-health","tag-migration","tag-well-being","contributor-pinky-barda","series-wellbeing-for-changemakers","states-india","schema-filter-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Migration takes a toll on women\u2019s mental health | IDR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pinky Barda, gram panchayat mukhiya in Jharkhand, on the stress, isolation, and quiet solidarity that define the lives of women in villages 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