Journal Press India®

PRAGATI: Journal of Indian Economy
Vol 12 , Issue 2 , July - December 2025 | Pages: 96-124 | Research Paper

From Expectations to Realities: Understanding the Satisfaction Level among the Low-Income Migrants in Delhi

 
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Author Details ( * ) denotes Corresponding author

1. * Megha Mittal, Student, Department of Economics, St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, Delhi, Delhi, India (meghamittal306@gmail.com)
2. Ayushi Chauhan, Student, Department of Economics, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Delhi, India (ayushichauhan7744@gmail.com)
3. Radhika Gupta, Student, Department of Economics, St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Delhi, India (radhikag1703@gmail.com)

This study aims to understand the various factors which influence low-income migrant families to shift from their initial place of residence, and it also tries to capture the expectations they had from the city and the degree to which those have been met in the context of Delhi. This is done using the Value Expectancy Model for migration. We find that ∼ 77% of the respondents were satisfied with their decision to migrate. We also find that caste, family size and housing conditions were significant predictors in determining the satisfaction level of the migrants. The findings reveal a complex interplay of factors shaping migrants’ satisfaction levels. While some migrants express satisfaction with certain aspects of their lives in Delhi, such as employment opportunities and access to educational facilities, others report significant challenges, including inadequate housing, low wages, and limited social integration. The Perception Index emerged as an important predictor in our analysis, indicating that as perceptions of Delhi improved, so did the actual satisfaction levels with the decision to migrate.

Keywords

Migration; Satisfaction; Perception; Expectation; Value-expectancy

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