Return intent among prospective migrants

The full distribution for “If you migrate abroad, do you intend to return and permanently settle down in Kerala in the future?” (n = 270) is: 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).

The cohort is clearly concentrated on this question. A single option carries 74.8% of responses, so the headline figure is stable enough to plan against. The smallest recorded answer, only post-retirement, still represents 19 people — a group large enough to matter in programme design even at 7%.

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.