Migration and its impact on the living standards of rural households in Vietnam

Abstract

Although migration is frequently used to enhance people's lives, it also has the unintended consequence of creating an imbalance in the labor force and socioeconomic development between the migration source and destination. This paper attempts to investigate the impact of migration on the living standards of rural households in Vietnam. For research purposes, the author uses data from the 2018 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey combined with three data processing methods. First, the author uses the probit model combined with marginal effects to show the impact of factors on the probability of migration. Second, using the propensity score matching method (PSM) to examine the differences in characteristics between two groups of households with migrants and non-migrants. Finally, the least squares (OLS) regression technique is used to determine the impact of migration, remittances from migration, and other factors on measures of household living standards. The living standard of rural households is measured by four indicators: average expenditure per capita per month, average income per capita/month, average health expenditure per month, and average education expenditure per month. These indicators were selected by the author to reflect the living standard of the household because they clearly show the economic and financial status of the household through sources of income and essential expenses. Some important results have found that migrant workers have a positive impact on rural household living standards. At the same time, remittances from migration also have a similar impact and are specifically shown through average income per capita/month and average health spending/month.