Ravindranath, D (2018) Maternal health and child malnutrition among migrant households engaged in construction work (Ahmedabad, India). PhD thesis, Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Abstract
Each year tens of thousands of families in India undertake rural to urban migration for short spells of time in search of work in the construction sector. For some households, family-based migration – wherein the entire household including children migrate to the city - is predominantly a livelihood strategy but for most others it is a basic survival strategy, especially in the absence of employment opportunities in rural areas. While the prevalence of migration for construction work and its significance for employment generation have been well-documented, most discussion on this subject has been restricted to economic aspects of labor: mobility, supply and demand, employability, wages, recruitment practices etc. Little is known about other aspects of migration such as the subjective experience of mobility and urban living, and its implications for health. For instance, while there is broader consensus that workers encounter high levels of pollution in the work environment and experience poor living conditions, it is not exactly clear how these factors affect their health and overall wellbeing, or how children are impacted by migration. The purpose of this study is to: understand how migration for construction work affects maternal health experiences and access to healthcare services; 2) categorize child (under age five) anthropometry and examine the underlying causes of malnutrition; 3) investigate barriers to government run maternal health and nutrition programs. Using a mixed-methods framework, anthropometric measurements of mothers and children, in-depth interviews of various stake holders and extensive observation of the built environment on construction sites were undertaken. The findings suggest that the context of migration, wage patterns, living conditions and informal work environment as well as lack of access to government programs and services, have deep implications for maternal health as well as child malnutrition. Implications for future practice, research and policy are also discussed.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Trani, J-F |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | India; built environment; employability; employment; government; healthcare; migration; policy; pollution; recruitment; wages; wellbeing |
| Index terms: | children, migration, employment, employability, mobility, pollution, supply and demand, recruitment, survival, India, rural area, construction work, work environment, built environment, household, strategy, construction site, interview, wages, construction sector, living condition, anthropometry, program, well-being |
| Subjects: | business economics, market analysis, demography, land use and regional development, Geography, factor and component analysis, environmental science, operations management, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis, human resources and leadership, environmental health, sociology, management, software systems, work location, data collection methods, mental health and wellbeing |
| Topics: | Education, Health and Safety, Project Management, Geographical Context, Sustainability, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Human Resources, Site Management, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here