Page 131 - IJPS-11-6

International Journal of
Population Studies Internal migration in Indonesia

4. Concluding remarks land access, and infrastructure to offset urban congestion.
Second, migration policy must be gender-responsive,
This study fundamentally reexamines internal migration expanding women’s options beyond marriage-led rural
in Indonesia, challenging the long-standing narrative moves by investing in female education, skill-building,
that frames it primarily as a linear, rural-to-urban and care services. Third, Indonesia needs policies that
process. By conceptualizing migration as a recursive, life- acknowledge and support circularity in migration, such
stage-dependent, and structurally embedded process, as portable benefits, multi-location housing rights, and
this study offers a novel empirical and theoretical lens mobility-aware urban planning, to harness migrants’
for understanding population mobility in Southeast contributions to both sending and receiving regions.
Asia. Drawing on longitudinal data from the IFLS and Taken together, these recommendations emphasize the
employing sequence analysis alongside multinomial importance of designing internal migration policy not only
logistic regression, our findings suggest that internal as a demographic response but also as an instrument for
migration is far more complex and dynamic. Rather than achieving inclusive and spatially balanced development.
a one-time relocation, migration often unfolds as a series
of movements, multi-directional, non-linear, and closely While this study contributes to our understanding
intertwined with life-course transitions. The dominance of migration patterns, it is essential to acknowledge its
of the rural-urban paradigm, often treated as the norm, limitations and identify areas for future research. First,
is empirically contested: only around 20% of observed the current analysis focuses mainly on general migration
trajectories follow this path. In contrast, certain patterns, trends. Analyzing rural-urban migration behavior based
such as rural to rural, urban to rural, and multi-step urban on subsamples of economic backgrounds (such as poor and
migrations, are both frequent and significant, illustrating non-poor) and gender could provide a more comprehensive
that migration is often a recursive, adaptive strategy shaped understanding of migration dynamics. This disaggregation
by broader socioeconomic and institutional contexts. would help reveal intersectional inequalities that shape
individuals’ capacity and constraints to move.
These patterns are not random but appear to be
associated with key demographic, socioeconomic, and Second, the study relies on retrospective migration
spatial characteristics. Gender, for instance, emerges as histories drawn from the IFLS, which may be subject
a critical axis of differentiation: males are more likely to to recall bias, particularly among older respondents or
engage in multi-step, economically oriented migrations, those with complex migration experiences. Although the
often undertaken independently, whereas females are dataset’s longitudinal design provides valuable depth, its
disproportionately represented in one-step rural migrations, reliance on self-reported events may limit the accuracy of
often linked to marriage. These trends reflect persistent reconstructed trajectories. Future research would benefit
gender norms and barriers to women’s participation from triangulating such data with administrative records
in urban labor markets. Similarly, higher educational or real-time migration tracking to enhance reliability.
attainment is strongly associated with participation Third, despite the analytical strengths of the IFLS,
in complex, urban-oriented migration trajectories, its quantitative design constrains the exploration of the
suggesting that education may expand individuals’ gendered, emotional, and culturally embedded aspects of
capacity to access urban economic opportunities. migration decision-making, particularly among women.
Economic status also appears to influence migration Addressing this gap requires the integration of qualitative
complexity, with non-poor individuals more frequently methods that can capture how women navigate familial
involved in cost-intensive, repeated migrations. Spatially, responsibilities, gender norms, and perceived risks in
Java functions as a major hub for internal migration across shaping their mobility strategies. Such approaches would
all typologies, underscoring its economic centrality while provide a more holistic, human-centered understanding of
also highlighting underexplored spatial disparities within migration, not merely as a structural or economic response,
and across regions. This finding reinforces the need for but as a deeply lived and negotiated process.
future migration research to incorporate spatial analytics Moreover, it is important to note that this analysis is
that capture not only movement between regions but also based on data collected up to 2014, before significant policy
across urban hierarchies and economic corridors within developments, such as the post-2020 capital relocation
islands.
plan and expansive regional development initiatives.
These insights demand a recalibration of policy. First, While the study does not capture the impact of these more
the prominence of rural-rural and urban-rural migrations recent transformations, its primary aim is to reconstruct
points to the economic vitality and social anchorage of long-term migration trajectories, particularly rural-urban
rural areas, warranting investments in rural employment, patterns, based on a rich and representative longitudinal

Volume 11 Issue 6 (2025) 125 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJPS025190084