Psychic costs
Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Human Capital Formation in India"
Meaning
Psychic costs are the non-money costs of migrating, which come from living in a strange socio-cultural setting. They include loneliness, being away from family, and dealing with an unfamiliar language, food and customs. Class 11 lists them along with transport costs and a higher cost of living as the costs of migration. They matter because a person migrates only if the higher earnings are greater than all these costs, including the psychic ones.
Example
A young worker from a village in Odisha takes a factory job in Surat that pays much more. Along with the train fare and higher rent, the worker faces homesickness, a new language and unfamiliar food. That emotional strain is the psychic cost of the move.
Don't confuse with
- Cost of living: cost of living is the extra money needed for rent, food and other needs in the new place. Psychic costs cannot be measured in money.