Youth Migration Patterns in East Nusa Tenggara

This study was designed in qualitative that enable researchers to explore topics on gender, youth, and migration. Secondary data were analyzed by looking at patterns of employment and other supporting data, such as higher macro-level education in NTT and Indonesia. The research question is structured to strengthen evidence on the pattern of migration of young groups in NTT and identification of the existing role of the various parties in the creation of secure migration today using gender perspective that are intensively deepen in this research.

The main finding of this study is that migration by young people in NTT occurs due to economic and non-economic reasons, where many families combine agricultural and non-agricultural work to meet the needs of their family’s life. This research shows that mobility and migration become part of their daily life.

According to youth groups in NTT, decent work, hope, and motivation are the main driving factors of migration decisions made by them. These are seen as the identification of migration patterns than cannot be separated with their daily life. Out of the three islands, the work that considered being feasible for young groups in NTT is varied. Young group evaluation towards decent work have been linked to their likelihood of getting the job based on their cycle of life, educational background, and possible access to employment. The cohesion of young groups to their home regions is considered to be very strong. Thus, on their judgment, good opportunities of work are those, which are within reach from their village. However, accessible and inadequate income limitations encourage them to migrate. Based on the life cycle, single youth will most likely explore opportunities by using their networks. Nevertheless, married youth tend to be more rational in assessing decent works due to their experiences, thus they will be able to relate those jobs easier with abilities that they possessed.