Volume 46 - Article 12 | Pages 337–354  

Internal migration and the de-standardization of the life course: A sequence analysis of reasons for migrating

By Aude Bernard, Sunganani Kalemba

Abstract

Background: The life-course perspective has become one of the main paradigms in migration research, providing a rich and fruitful framework for understanding migration behavior. Despite a large literature on the association between internal migration and life-course transitions, little effort has been made to understand the impact of increasing diversity in the life-course trajectory of young adults on heterogeneity in migration behavior.

Objective: To address this gap, this paper seeks to establish intra- and inter-cohort variation in the occurrence, order, and timing of reasons for migrating among young adults.

Methods: We apply sequence and cluster analysis to self-reported reasons for migrating collected from 2002 to 2019 as part of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and follow two cohorts of young adults born between 1982–1984 and 1990–1992 over 10 years. We distinguish between education, employment, family, housing, amenity, lifestyle, and health migration.

Results: Sequence analysis reveals diversity in individual migration trajectories, shaped by the number and timing of migrations and the type of reason. Intra-cohort variation is manifested by the delineation of five distinct migration clusters, while inter-cohort change is most visible in the growing share of young adults that follow diverse and delayed migration trajectories.

Conclusions: Sequence analysis is a promising tool to advance understanding of migration behavior, which can now find greater usage thanks to the maturation of longitudinal surveys.

Contribution: Analyzing migration histories over a sustained period reveals greater heterogeneity in migration behavior than focusing on single migration events. This reinforces the importance of conceptualizing and analyzing migration as a life-course trajectory that unfolds over time.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Educational selectivity of native and foreign-born internal migrants in Europe
Volume 47 - Article 34

Distinguishing tempo and ageing effects in migration
Volume 40 - Article 44

Educational selectivity of internal migrants: A global assessment
Volume 39 - Article 29

Smoothing internal migration age profiles for comparative research
Volume 32 - Article 33

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Women’s employment trajectories in a low-income setting: Stratification and change in Nepal
Volume 49 - Article 8    | Keywords: Nepal, sequence analysis, women's employment, work trajectory

Union formation and fertility amongst immigrants from Pakistan and their descendants in the United Kingdom: A multichannel sequence analysis
Volume 48 - Article 10    | Keywords: assimilation, fertility, life course, migrants, sequence analysis, union formation, United Kingdom

Migrating to a new country in late life: A review of the literature on international retirement migration
Volume 48 - Article 9    | Keywords: aging, internal migration, retirement, transnationalism

Solo living in the process of transitioning to adulthood in Europe: The role of socioeconomic background
Volume 48 - Article 3    | Keywords: cross-national comparison, Europe, leaving home, life course, living alone, trajectories, transition to adulthood

Educational selectivity of native and foreign-born internal migrants in Europe
Volume 47 - Article 34    | Keywords: educational selectivity, Europe, European Union Labour Force Survey, global cities, internal migration, native and foreign-born population