What is migration?

Do you have to cross international borders? Do you have to cross any border at all?

Does it matter how long you stay at your destination?

If you move to a new house, are you definitely a migrant?

Can you be a migrant without changing jobs?

MIGRATION is not the same as MOBILITY

Definitive

Minimal

Soc

ial b

reak

Distance movedLow High

A loose definition of migration, with four key patterns identified

Career

Chain

Circular

Local

Not migration

Local

But does any of this matter?

MAYBE NOT!

Precise definitions are often irrelevant because

We’re always limited by the data itself

We usually know about people who cross an administrative boundary

We usually know very little about social integration

We usually know very little about duration of stay

Example of identifying migrants to the U.S.

Distance moved country of birth

Duration of time spent in the U.S. Exact number of years in 1900-1920 and 1970-2000 census Can make inferences based on children’s birthplaces in other years

Social integration Can make inferences based on

Ethnic intermarriage Naming patterns (some years) Language spoke at home (some years) Residential isolation at the destination

Example of identifying migrants within the U.S.

Distance moved State of birth and current state of residence

Duration of time spent at the destination No knowledge prior to 1940 Can identify those who moved >5 & <5 years ago in 1940-2000

Social integration Can make inferences based on

intermarriage with similar migrants residential isolation in the city

The most common definition of a migrant is“someone who has moved since being born”

Presents a problem for comparing populations:

A population with lots of children will have few migrants

Children just haven’t had that long to move

Even keeping things simple can get messy

Figure 1. Percent of Native Population Residing Outside State of Birth by Race, United States, 1850-1990

White

Black

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Per

cen

t M

igra

nt

Figure 2. Percent of Native Born Migrant at Ages 50-59 by Race: United States, 1850-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Per

cen

t M

igra

nt

White

Black

So the big definition doesn’t matter?

ACTUALLY MAYBE IT DOES

Precise definitions developed to address earlier beliefs that

Migration was only barely existent prior to industrialization

Rural to urban migrants were “grist in the mill” of industrialization Migration was permanent and devastating for them

Migration goes hand-in-hand with nation-building

Migrants were “poor huddled masses” Undifferentiated and unprepared foreigners

Definitive

Minimal

Soc

ial b

reak

Distance movedLow High

A definition of migration, with four key patterns identified

Career

Chain

Circular

Local

Not migration

Local

New emphases in study of migration

Migration has always been a part of U.S. and European life

Migrants tend to be positively selected

Migrants’ often plan to return home even among migrants to the U.S. affects their attitudes towards the destination point

Assimilation is not a given

Migration as a process to be understood in its own right

Brief history of immigration to the U.S.

...Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to

be free, The wretched refuse of your

teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,

tempest-tossed to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden

door!

The New Colossus (1886)Emma Lazarus

Common images of migration

Common images of migration

Jacob Riis, “5 Cents Lodging”, 1890

Lewis Hine, “New York City Tenement”, 1910

Common images of migration

“Graduation ceremony” from Ford plant’s orientation program, 1920s

Common images of migration

Issues that complicate these portraits Many early 1900s migrants returned home

South Italians, Croats, Slovenians, Slovaks, Hungarians: 50-60% North Italians, Poles: 30-50% Finns, Serbs, Bulgarians: 20-30% Germans, Scandinavians, English: 10-20% Irish, “Hebrews”: <10%

Large numbers of Europeans went instead to... Brazil and Argentina: about 1 for every 4 who came to the U.S. Canada: about 1 for every 5 who came to the U.S. Towns and cities all across Europe: many more than came to U.S.

The U.S. was one destination in a complex migration system

Issues that complicate these portraits

Most were doing pretty well before leaving Migration is usually a selective process

Traveling long distances costs money Families send their most promising members Education and experience with migration seems to make people more

inclined to move

Many avoided assimilation quite successfully People planned to make a little money and return home People lived here in perfectly happy ethnic isolation

Relevant immigration laws

Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 (made permanent 1902)

“Gentleman’s Agreement” with Japan, 1908

National Origins Act of 1924 Established a tight quota system Based on origins of the US population in 1890

Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 Larger quotas for Asian and African countries Family reunification privileged Particular professions priviledged

"Old immigration": Origins: German, Scandinavian, and Scotch-Irish1820s-1880s Destinations: Midwest rural and urban, Upper MW

Type of work: farm, some urbanTraveling alone: mostly familiesReligion: Protestant

"New Immigration": Origins: Italian, Greek, Polish, Russian1880s-1920s Destinations: Urban northeast and mid-Atlantic

Type of work: urban factory workTraveling alone: yes, mostlyReligion: more Catholic, Jewish

“Really new Immigration": Origins: Latin America, Asia, Africa1960s-2000s Destinations: Florida, Texas, California, cities

Type of work: professions and clericalTraveling alone: mixedReligion: Catholic, Protestant, Muslim

Main periods in US Immigration

Brief history of migration within the U.S.

Figure 1. Percent of Native Population Residing Outside State of Birth by Race, United States, 1850-1990

White

Black

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Per

cen

t M

igra

nt

Figure 7. Interstate Migration Destinations for Native-Born Whites Aged 50-59: United States 1850-2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Per

cen

t M

igra

nt

Farm

Rural Nonfarm

Towns

Cities

Suburbs

Source: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series

Figure 8. Interstate Migration Destinations for Native-Born Blacks Aged 50-59: United States 1870-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Per

cen

t M

igra

nt

Cities

Suburbs

Farm

Rural Nonfarm

Towns

Source: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series

Something I’m working on.....

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1870 1880 1890* 1900 1910 1920 1930* 1940 1950 1960 1970

Black

White

Southern out-migrants as a proportion of all southern-born persons, by race

* Data not available for 1890 and 1930.Source: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series files (IPUMS), 1870-1970.

Proportion southern-born whiteLess than 2.5%2.5% - 5%5% - 10%More than 10%

Southern-born whites as a proportion of the population in each State Economic Area, 1870

Source: IPUMS file, 1870

Proportion southern-born whiteLess than 2.5%2.5% - 5%5% - 10%More than 10%

Southern-born whites as a proportion of the population in each State Economic Area, 1900

Source: IPUMS file, 1900

Proportion southern-born whiteLess than 2.5%2.5% - 5%5% - 10%More than 10%

Southern-born whites as a proportion of the population in each State Economic Area, 1920

Source: IPUMS file, 1920

Proportion southern-born whiteLess than 2.5%2.5% - 5%5% - 10%More than 10%

Southern-born whites as a proportion of the population in each State Economic Area, 1950

Source: IPUMS file, 1950

Proportion southern-born whiteLess than 2.5%2.5% - 5%5% - 10%More than 10%

Southern-born whites as a proportion of the population in each County Group, 1980

Source: IPUMS 1980 5% State file, Sample A

How did these folks do in the North?

Southern Appalachian Studies

Appalachian Regional Commission

Map 1Two definitions of Appalachia:

Appalachian Regional Commission and Southern Appalachian Studies group

1940 State Economic Areas

1980 County Groups

Map 2SAS definition of Appalachia:

Using 1940 State Economic Areas and 1980 County Groups

1940 State Economic Areas

1980 County Groups

Map 3ARC definition of Appalachia:

Using 1940 State Economic Areas and 1980 County Groups

Main sources of Appalachianmigration to the North, 1940-1980

Persistently distressed Appalachian counties, 1960-1990

Map 4Key areas of northward out-migration and economic distress in Appalachia

NAll recent southern-born white migrants $15,405 1183

Recent Appalachian white migrants $13,685 177Selected subregions: Appalachian West Virginia $13,195 86 Appalachian Kentucky $11,505 38

All recent foreign-born migrants (all races) $10,405 1536Selected subregions: Canada $20,005 51 Western Europe $18,005 180 Phillipines $12,005 59 India $11,670 164 Korea $11,505 82 Eastern Europe $10,405 199 Africa $8,005 69 Mexico $8,005 223

Average wage incomes of recent Southern and Foreign-born men aged 25-60in the East North Central region, 1980

Source: IPUMS, 1980 5% State file, Sample A.

NAll recent southern-born white migrants 14% 1838

Recent Appalachian white migrants 22% 327Selected subregions: Appalachian West Virginia 23% 165 Appalachian Kentucky 28% 83

All recent foreign-born migrants (all races) 29% 2100Selected subregions: Phillipines 10% 86 Canada 11% 71 Western Europe 12% 177 India 14% 162 Korea 21% 100 South America 23% 73 Eastern Europe 27% 249 Mexico 30% 256 Vietnam 33% 64 Puerto Rico 37% 127 China 40% 91 Africa 40% 112

Percent of recent migrant households in poverty, East North Central region, 1980

Source: IPUMS, 1980 5% State file, Sample A.

Figure 11. Percent of Native Born Whites Migrant at Ages 50-59 by Literacy and Educational Attainment: United States, 1850-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Census Year

Pe

rce

nt

Mig

ran

t

Literate

Illiterate

5th grade or more

4th grade or less

Source: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series