Migration selectivity and early adult attainments
Lyson, T.A.
Rural Sociology 51(3): 328-342
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-0112 Document Number: 345904
Using data obtained from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972, this paper considers: whether a decision to migrate to or from a rural place is related to background characteristics and personal attributes, and whether the decision to leave a rural area, move into a rural area, or remain in the rural area of one's childhood is related to early adult social and economic attainments. Results show that migration is related to both sets of variables and suggest the importance of taking into account characteristics of the local opportunity structure in studies of labour market outcomes and labour supply characteristics. For men, the biggest distinction in background characteristics among the six groups centred on farming. Compared with the other subgroups, rural non-migrant men were more likely to come from farm backgrounds and to have had farming plans while in high school. Virtually none of the rural-to-urban migrants had farming plans. For women a farm background was critical in distinguishing between rural-reared and urban-reared persons. Unlike the men, however, a large proportion of women from farm backgrounds migrated to urban areas.