For generations, the narrative of migration from Kerala to the Arabian Gulf has been celebrated as a straightforward economic triumph. It is visible in the sprawling multi-story bungalows dotting the rural countryside, the rise of elite private schools, and the massive financial remittances that serve as the macroeconomic anchor of the state. These days, a study published in 2023 as a World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, has been doing the rounds in which it is observed that returning migrants carry back far more than just bank drafts. They are transmitting "social remittances" -- the cultural values, behavioural expectations, and gender attitudes of their host nations -- with profound, divergent, and often troubling impacts on Kerala's social fabric.

The study, co-authored by World Bank researchers George Joseph, Qiao Wang, Gnanaraj Chellaraj, Emcet O Taş, Luis Andres, and Syed Usman Javaid, alongside prominent migration expert Irudaya Rajan from the Center for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, utilizes data from the comprehensive Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) to examine this social phenomenon.

By deploying advanced statistical models to isolate true causality, the researchers established a direct link: the specific country where a migrant works overseas directly dictates the gender attitudes they bring back home.

The great Gulf divide

The most striking revelation of the study is the stark contrast in social attitudes between those returning from Saudi Arabia and those returning from other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.

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According to the researchers, returning migrants from Saudi Arabia exhibit significantly more conservative attitudes regarding gender-based violence compared to those who have never migrated.

Saudi returnees are statistically far more likely to hold traditional and restrictive beliefs regarding women’s roles, family honour, and marital obedience.

In sharp contrast, migrants returning from other Gulf countries are less conservative on these measures, showing attitudes that are either indistinguishable from non-migrants or, in some cases, noticeably more progressive.

This divergence in social remittances is traced directly to the demographic make-up and cultural openness of the destination countries. Saudi Arabia has historically maintained a highly conservative environment, characterized by a traditional interpretation of women’s roles and a exceptionally low rate of female labor force participation.

Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's workforce is heavily dominated by its domestic citizenry, with international workers making up only a minority of the population.

Conversely, in nations like the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar, international workers comprise the vast majority of the population. This dense international presence includes a highly skilled global workforce, often hailing from industrialized nations, which helps offset local conservative biases.

As a result, Kerala migrants working in these open destination hubs are exposed to a multicultural, relatively progressive environment, which they carry back to their home communities.

Unexpected consensus on female employment

Despite these stark social divides, the study highlights one crucial area of positive change: both groups of returning migrants show a marked openness toward women entering the workforce.

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When evaluated on their beliefs regarding working wives, returned migrants from both Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states proved to be significantly more progressive than those who stayed behind.

The researchers suggest that this positive shift is highly tied to practical household financial concerns. Having lived in expensive overseas environments, families with migration experience increasingly recognize the immense economic benefits, upward mobility, and financial security offered by dual-income households.

In this economic calculus, traditional stigmas against working wives rapidly dissolve.

Human face of imported patriarchies

Beyond the data, these social remittances manifest as deeply personal realities within Kerala's households. A major investigative feature published by The South First highlights how these traditional views on family honour, dress codes, and behavioral boundaries are enforced across generations.

In Pathanamthitta, Kuwait returnee Alex Mammen firmly asserts that protecting family pride is a responsibility that rests largely with the women at home. His rigid adherence to traditional honor has led to a painful, years-long silence with his daughter, whose marriage to a Hindu man he has never accepted.

Meanwhile, in Malappuram, Saudi returnee Sulfikkar Ali built a successful life and reputation in Riyadh. Upon returning home, he brought back more than financial security: his wife, daughter, and the younger women in his family now wear the pardha -- a conservative Middle Eastern practice he himself introduced to replace the traditional attire worn by his mother.

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These stories reflect a generational reality where migration brings home money and dreams, but simultaneously carries back old, restrictive ideas of women, honor, and control.

Socioeconomic and internal undercurrents

The challenge of dismantling these norms is further complicated by who holds conservative attitudes within Kerala itself. Crucially, the World Bank’s analysis revealed that female respondents in Kerala statistically exhibited significantly more conservative attitudes than men across almost every social category except employment.

Sociologists attribute this to deep-seated patriarchal socialization, where women themselves internalize and police traditional behavioral boundaries to protect household honor and maintain marital stability in a conservative social environment.

Lower-Income Households: Families in the bottom income brackets are generally more conservative on social norms, yet remain highly progressive regarding women entering the workforce to alleviate financial strain.

Wealthier and Urban Households: Conversely, urban residents and landowners are generally more progressive on general gender equality, but display more conservative attitudes toward female employment, preferring to preserve traditional male-breadwinner structures.

Policy Gap: Economic vs social reintegration (2024–2026)

While the World Bank's research explicitly recommended that Kerala's state institutions implement targeted gender-sensitization and family monitoring programs to combat these imported conservative norms, field evaluations up to August 2026 reveal that no measurable systemic improvement has occurred.

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State-level rehabilitation programs run by NORKA Roots remain heavily, almost exclusively, focused on economic rather than social reintegration.

The NDPREM Scheme: NORKA's flagship initiative for returned emigrants focuses on facilitating self-employment loans, offering capital and interest subsidies to help returnees establish small businesses. While highly effective at economic rehabilitation, it provides no structural social education.

The PDOP Skilling Gap: Similarly, NORKA's Pre-Departure Orientation Programme (PDOP) remains strictly logistical. It focuses on visa rules, emigration laws, travel formalities, and language training. Systematic, mandatory gender-sensitization coursework is still completely absent from the pre-departure and repatriation curriculum.

Until policymakers address the cultural dimensions of return migration with the same systemic focus and funding given to financial assets, Kerala's migration corridors will continue to bring back wealth alongside regressive social controls.