High rate of migration to Islamabad raises cost of living

There is record increase in urban population of federal capital Islamabad as urbanisation has been increasing at a rate of 5.8 percent.
Sources told Business Recorder here on Thursday that high increase in urbanisation was recorded in federal capital as migrant men and women from the four provinces proceed to Islamabad for better living, employment and settlement which has increased migrant population burden on the capital city.
Increased rate of migration to Islamabad has raised the cost of accommodation, food inflation is aggravating gradually and transportation charges are increasing. Moreover, overall living cost has doubled in the capital as compared to other cities of the country.
Sources said that four provinces show crucial differences in the nature of urbanisation as over 60 percent of the population of urban Sindh lives in Karachi and this concentration has increased over the time.
In the analysis, the role of migration in improving the quality of life has been assessed by five indicators that comprise female labour participation, income differentials of working migrants before and after migration, household consumption expenditures of migrants compared with those of non-migrants, infant mortality, child malnutrition, they said.
Urban migration has made a difference in the lives of the females and males and their families as the analysis reveals the migrant men and women are economically more active after migration and average income of working men and women have also improved considerably after migration top cities leading to improved consumption levels and better food security, they said.
Infant mortality rates in urban areas were slightly lower in migrant households than in non-migrant households, suggesting that migration towards cities provides families better access to health facilities, leading to child survival, they said.
However, differentials in child malnutrition levels do not vary by migration status of the households in urban areas suggesting that children of migrant families have a nutritional status which is close to the urban non-migrant households and it also shows an improvement in food consumption of migrant households.