CHARACTERISTICS OF MIGRANTS
Peter A- morrison
Allan F abrahamse
ahms Ke™ F M*c carthy
The Rand Corporation,
Santa Monica, USA
Population redistribution in the U.S.A., as elsewhere, is the product of complex flows of migration among various types of places. The underlying functions carried out by these movements often are reflected in the characteristics of the migrants themselves (even though the reasons individuals move may be complex).
This paper reports some preliminary findings from an ongoing study of migrants who have moved from metropolitan to nonmetropolitan areas in the U.S.A. So far, our focus has been on the kinds of people who have been making such moves and how their characteristics compare with their counterparts who migrate from one metropolitan area to another. Our study is an exploratory one, based on a unique body of longitudinal microdata - the University of Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). With this dataset, we can track each move within the context of the migrant's unfolding life and identify some of the socioeconomic circumstances that surrounded the move. Essentially, we have been searching these data for clues to the factors that prompt the heightened movement to nonmetropolitan areas and the underlying purpose being served by that movement. Despite their limitation (the most critical being small sample size), these data have enabled us to probe certain dimensions not available from the typical aggregate migration-flow data.
Background
Over the last decade, national settlement patterns have changed considerably as population has shifted out of large metropolitan centers (Vining, 1982; Vining and Kontuly,