Chapter 7

The Migration Transition

Chapter Outline• Defining Migration• Internal And International Migrants• Measuring Migration• The Migration Transition Within

Countries• Migration Between Countries• Forced Migration

Migration• Changing residence and moving all

social activities from one place to another.

• International migrants move between countries.

• Internal migrants move within national boundaries.

Measuring Migration• The U.S. Census Bureau defines a

migrant as a person who has moved to a different county within the U.S.

• From the standpoint of a local school district, a migration would moving into or out of the school district’s boundaries.

Stocks Versus Flows• The migration transition involves a

process and a transformation.• The process is that people move

from one place to another and this represents the migration flow.

• The transformation is that the migrant stock changes as people move into and out of a given place.

Why Do People Migrate?• Push–pull theory

People move because they are pushed out of their former location, or because they have been pulled someplace else.

• Implementing strategy A goal (education, a better job, a nicer

house, a more pleasant environment, and so on) might be attained by moving.

Generalizations About Migration

1. Migration is selective. Only a selected portion of the population migrates.

2. The heightened propensity to migrate at certain stages of the life cycle is important in the selection of migrants.

Conceptual Model of Migration Decision Making

Who Migrates?• Young adults are more likely to migrate

than people at any other age. In most societies, it is expected that

young adults will leave their parents’ home, establish an independent household, get a job, marry, and have children.

• In the U.S., women have virtually the same rates of migration as do men, reflecting increasing gender equity.

Young Adults Are Most Likely to Be Migrants

Migration at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Origin in 2001

Destination in 2002:

Northeast Midwest South West Totals

Northeast –220 81 235 129 445

Midwest 84 –225 304 142 530

South 487 401 392 394 1,282

West 84 272 351 52 717

Totals 665 754 890 665 2,974

Frey: Patterns of Population Movement in the United States

• Uneven urban revival A select few metropolitan areas are

gaining migrants at the expense of others.

• Regional racial division Influx of immigrants from Asia and Latin

America diversified the receiving states (California, Texas, and New York).

Frey: Patterns of Population Movement in the United States

• Regional divisions by skill level and poverty Redistribution of knowledge-based

industries creates a migration of those with more education.

• Baby boom and elderly realignments Early baby boomers moved west and

south.• Suburban dominance and city isolation

The modal commuter now lives and works in the suburbs.

Theories of International Migration• Theories focused on the initiation of

migration patterns: Neoclassical economics The new household economics of

migration Dual labor market theory World systems theory

Theories of the Perpetuation of Migration• Theories focused on explaining the

flow of migrants between countries: Network theory Institutional theory Cumulative causation

Net Immigrants

International Migrant Stock, 2000

Immigration into Canada

Solutions to the Problem of Refugee Populations• Repatriation to the country of origin.• Resettlement in the country to which

they initially fled.• Resettlement in a third country.