Uncertain Migration Impacts on Sending Households in Rural Areas in Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

The relative impact of migration on the living conditions of sending households through remittances has been much debated. This paper aims to shed light on debates on long- and short-term impacts of migration, drawing on empirical evidence from North-West Ethiopia. The study was guided by the New Economic Labour Migration theory and used some retrospective survey data from 553 households and semi-structured interviews with longterm, short-term or no migrants. The difference-in-differences method helped to assess the changes of households with migrants compared to the nonmigrant- sending households in the same area and in the same period. The results illustrate the uncertainty of migration strategies in terms of actual remittances and livelihood improvements for the sending households.