What the data says would make them stay

The full distribution for “Would you confidently choose to stay in Kerala if entry-level salaries in your field reached at least ₹35,000/month?” (n = 270) is: Yes, absolutely — 52.6% (142); No, I would still migrate for a better global lifestyle — 30.7% (83); Neutral / Undecided — 16.7% (45).

The cohort is clearly concentrated on this question. A single option carries 52.6% of responses, so the headline figure is stable enough to plan against. The smallest recorded answer, Neutral / Undecided, still represents 45 people — a group large enough to matter in programme design even at 16.7%.

“What is the primary driving factor behind your desire to leave Kerala?” (n = 270) returns: Low entry-level salaries and lack of major industries — 50.4% (136); Superior quality of education and research abroad — 30.4% (82); High moral policing and lack of lifestyle freedom — 15.2% (41); I do not want to leave Kerala — 4.1% (11).

Placed beside the primary figure, this measure shows a majority position — 50.4% on low entry-level salaries and lack of major industries — which is the more reliable of the two anchors here. Read together, the two questions describe cross-cutting analysis as a pattern reported across the cohort rather than an issue confined to a minority of respondents.

“If you migrate abroad, do you intend to return and permanently settle down in Kerala in the future?” (n = 270) adds: Yes, after earning enough wealth — 74.8% (202); No, I want to settle abroad permanently — 11.1% (30); I have no plans to migrate — 7% (19); Only post-retirement — 7% (19).

This third figure is included because it constrains the interpretation of the first two: it shows where respondents locate responsibility or intent, and therefore which interventions the data can and cannot be used to argue for.

These are self-reported answers from a community-recruited cohort of 399 young Keralites surveyed between 21 May and 28 June 2026. They are not probability-sample estimates of Kerala's youth population, and confidence intervals from random sampling do not apply.

Because 74.4% of respondents sit in one age band and 72.7% identify as male, subgroup differences are indicative at best. Cross-tabulated claims require a larger, stratified sample.

Finally, the survey measures single-point self-report, so it can establish association and scale but not direction or cause. Where this brief notes a pattern across two questions, that pattern is descriptive.