Freedom to Move, Challenges to Settle: An Assessment of Multidimensional Wellbeing of Internal Migrants in India’s Capital City

Gayatri Singh, Brown University

Prospects of Indian cities are greatly tied to migrants’ ability to transition into productive urban citizens. However, their ability to do so depends not only on economic opportunities but also on cities’ ability to deliver on quality of life indicators. While there is increasing work on micro-level dimensions of wellbeing in rural developing country contexts, little empirical work examines parallel dimensions in urban areas. This gap is especially pronounced in scholarly work on migrant outcomes in Indian urban destinations. Within this context, I carry out an assessment of migrants’ multidimensional wellbeing in India’s capital city, Delhi, using two unique geo-reference data sources that allow for combining socio-economic data with neighborhood level indicators.