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Field
Abstract
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Before
Migration is central to economic mobility among many of the world’s poor, opening the door to higher wages and human capital accumulation. Yet, rates of migration are much lower than predicted given the substantial wage premium available in urban areas (Roy 1951; Young 2013; Akram et al. 2017; Beegle et al. 2011; Bryan & Morten 2015). Many potential reasons for this puzzle have been examined, but much of the gap remains unexplained (Clemens 2014; Bryan et al. 2014; Munshi & Rosenzweig 2016; Morten 2016). In this project, we aim to increase the economic opportunities of young female migrants in India by addressing an additional growing global concern that may limit migration: loneliness and social isolation.
We implement a low-cost scalable program delivered in garment factories to address loneliness and social isolation and thereby improve both the mental health and economic outcomes of the young female employees. We pair employees that recently migrated to work in those factories ("juniors") with seasoned employees who have been there for at least 7 months ("seniors"). Pairs of junior and senior buddies will be randomly assigned to a control arm (no intervention) or one of the following treatment arms: i) social support, in which juniors and seniors are asked to meet regularly. During the meetings, the pair is prompted to discuss and perform activities are intended to foster a closer emotional bond and a source of emotional comfort in a challenging new environment, and ii) senior buddies are also trained in and deliver a curriculum which draws on Problem Management Plus (PM+) in order to help their junior buddy adjust to the new environment and address the negative beliefs caused by loneliness. During these meetings, the junior and senior engage in joint problem solving, with the senior helping the junior develop strategies to address and to cope with challenges they face. Importantly, PM+ is designed to be delivered by lay-people in resource-poor settings.
The study will rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions on: a) loneliness and depression, b) social networks, including new links and their mental health, c) labor market outcomes, d) female empowerment, and e) self reported physical health and wellbeing. In measuring the flow of mental health through social networks, we aim to quantify the pathways through which the intervention operates and spillover effects. We plan to enroll 1,000 pairs (2,000 participants) in the RCT sample and 3 contacts per RCT participant (6,000 total) in the social network sample. However, these sample sizes may be adjusted based on additional power calculations following the next pilot.
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After
Migration is central to economic mobility among many of the world’s poor, opening the door to higher wages and human capital accumulation. Yet, rates of migration are much lower than predicted given the substantial wage premium available in urban areas (Roy 1951; Young 2013; Akram et al. 2017; Beegle et al. 2011; Bryan & Morten 2015). Many potential reasons for this puzzle have been examined, but much of the gap remains unexplained (Clemens 2014; Bryan et al. 2014; Munshi & Rosenzweig 2016; Morten 2016). In this project, we aim to increase the economic opportunities of young female migrants in India by addressing an additional growing global concern that may limit migration: loneliness and social isolation.
We implement a low-cost scalable program delivered in garment factories to address loneliness and social isolation and thereby improve both the mental health and economic outcomes of the young female employees. We pair employees that recently migrated to work in those factories ("juniors") with seasoned employees who have been there for at least 7 months ("seniors"). Pairs of junior and senior buddies will be randomly assigned to a control arm (no intervention) or a treatment arm: social support, in which juniors and seniors are asked to meet regularly. During the meetings, the pair is prompted to discuss and perform activities intended to foster a closer emotional bond and a source of emotional comfort in a challenging new environment.
The study will rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions on: a) loneliness and depression, b) social networks, including new links and their mental health, c) labor market outcomes, d) female empowerment, and e) self reported physical health and wellbeing. In measuring the flow of mental health through social networks, we aim to quantify the pathways through which the intervention operates and spillover effects. We plan to enroll 500 pairs (1000 participants) (in the RCT sample and up to 3 contacts per RCT participant (3000 total) in the social network sample.
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Field
Last Published
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Before
September 14, 2021 04:54 PM
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After
March 13, 2023 12:27 PM
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Field
Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
RCT participants will be randomized to one of three experimental arms:
1) Control - Participants in this arm would receive no intervention. Pairs are not introduced by the study.
2) Treatments - Juniors will be introduced to a senior living in the same hostel and speaking the same language. This senior will meet with the junior for eight weeks and provide:
a) Social support – The pair will be asked to do weekly activities that provide them with opportunities to form a friendship. They will be guided to discuss both practical topics (which can be very mentally costly when new to an environment -- e.g., where to buy medicine) and questions intended to create a closer bond (e.g., What would be a perfect day for you and why?)
b) Social support supplemented by WHO Problem Management Plus (PM+) - PM+ is an intervention in which lay-people in low-resource settings are trained to assist others with adversity (WHO 2016). This program was tailored to suit the context with expert guidance from Dr Shekhar Saxena, a leading global mental health expert. The senior will be trained as a lay-counselor under the PM+ program, and pairs are asked to meet twice weekly to hold discussions and complete exercises. After sessions, the senior will also ask the junior to complete short “homework” assignments (e.g., talk with two people you haven’t met before during lunch) in order to put learned skills into practice.
We plan to enroll 1,000 pairs of juniors and seniors (2,000 participants) in the experiment, though these sample sizes may be adjusted based on additional power calculations following the next pilot. Juniors and seniors in the treatment and control arms will complete surveys at baseline, weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8 (intervention endline), and 3 and 6 months post-intervention. A comprehensive plan to track participants who leave the factory and return to their villages through phone surveys is in place. Three baseline contacts of each RCT participant will be enrolled in the social network sample (6,000 participants). Social network participants will complete brief surveys at baseline and endline.
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After
RCT participants will be randomized to one of two experimental arms:
Control - Participants in this arm would receive no intervention. Pairs are not introduced by the study.
Treatment - Juniors will be introduced to a senior living in the same hostel and speaking the same language. This senior will meet with the junior for eight weeks and provide social support – The pair will be asked to do weekly activities that provide them with opportunities to form a friendship. They will be guided to discuss both practical topics (which can be very mentally costly when new to an environment -- e.g., where to buy medicine) and questions intended to create a closer bond (e.g. what would be a perfect day for you and why?)
We plan to enroll 500 pairs of juniors and seniors (1000 participants) in the experiment. Juniors and seniors in the treatment and control arms will complete surveys at baseline, weeks 2, 4, 6, and 8 (intervention endline), and 3 and 6 months post-intervention. A comprehensive plan to track participants who leave the factory and return to their villages through phone surveys is in place. Three baseline contacts of each RCT participant will be enrolled in the social network sample (3000 participants). Social network participants will complete brief surveys at baseline and endline.
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Planned Number of Clusters
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Before
1,000 pairs
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After
500 pairs
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
2,000 migrants
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After
1000 participants
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Before
333 pairs control, 333 pairs social support, 333 pairs social support plus PM+
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After
250 pairs Control, 250 pairs Treatment
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