This paper, based on a sample study of female migrant workers in Tamil Nadu, highlights the trends, pattern and nature of female migration in Tamil Nadu; the push and pull factors of migration and finally the role of migration as a livelihood strategy. The major push factor was lack of employment opportunities in the place of origin caused by drought and the pull factor was a favourable employment situation in the destination areas. After migration there seems to be a sizeable improvement in self-employment and regular salaried jobs for women. But the concentration of women in the informal sector to the extent of 82 per cent is an indication of their disadvantaged position in the urban labour market. Weighing the gains and losses, the study concludes that migration has helped migrant households avoid hunger, starvation and death, though it has failed to improve the economic well-being of about 43 per cent of the families, particularly the female headed households. To alleviate poverty the government's attention should be directed towards combating population movement via rural development and also improving the living conditions of those who had already moved.
