Revealing the Hidden Motivations of Villagers for Rural Migration: A Case Study of Khusf County

Today, one of the most important concerns for researchers and planners in rural areas is the population instability of rural settlements, which can hinder rural development plans. Therefore, the present study was conducted to reveal the hidden motivations of villagers for migration in the villages of Khusf County and furthermore provide appropriate solutions for greater population stability. The research is applied in terms of purpose and nature and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The population consisted of 41 villages over 100 population (4226 households and 13892 people), which, according to geographical distribution, population classification, and population decline in 2006 and 2016, 20% of them (8 villages) with 796 households were selected the as sample. A total number of 259 questionnaires (based on Cochran’s Formula) were distributed among the sample based on simple random sampling. One sample t-test was used to analyze quantitative data and the Friedman test was used to rank the effect of different factors on population instability. Based on the results, drought had the greatest impact on population instability in the settlements studied, followed by unemployment, low income, and low facilities and services, respectively.