Rural-Urban Migration Pathways and Residential Segregation in the Helsinki Region

Abstract

Migration and residential segregation are intrinsically linked. However, little attention has been given to internal migration and its relationship with socioeconomic segregation. In this study, we illustrate the pathways individuals take between rural and urban settings and examine the association between these pathways and segregation in the Helsinki region. We use register data from Statistics Finland and sequence analysis to illustrate the mobility patterns of two 1980s birth cohorts aged 7 to 37. The majority of Finnish rural-urban pathways are associated with either a childhood spent in an urban area or a move to an urban area in young adulthood. We show that an even larger majority of people living in Helsinki at age 37 spent their childhood there or in other urban environments. We find that internal migrants are positively selected for education and income. A childhood in the outer urban regions of a city reduces the probability of living in lowincome neighbourhoods when controlling for socioeconomic status and family structure. We found no association between rural childhood and living in poor neighbourhoods.

Do Internal Migration Experiences Facilitate Migration Intentions and Behavior?

“…Recognizing that "indi vid ual action is embed ded in a pro cess of deci sions and behav iors that occurs over time" (Bernardi et al 2019:3), schol ars have increas ingly con cep tu al ized migra tion as a tra jec tory that unfolds over indi vid u als' life courses rather than as dis crete, inde pen dent events (Coulter et al 2016). This approach has been tested empir i cally mainly through sequence anal y sis, which traces suc cessive moves over prolonged peri ods (Castagnone 2011;Coulter et al 2011;Karhula et al 2020;Stovel and Bolan 2004;Toma and Castagnone 2015;Vidal and Lutz 2018;Zufferey et al 2021). This burgeoning lit er a ture has revealed a pos i tive asso ci a tion between the num ber of past child hood and adult hood migra tions and the prob a bil ity of sub se quently migrat ing (Bernard and Vidal 2020;Myers 1999) both domes ti cally and inter na tion ally (Bernard and Perales 2021).…”

“…To rec on cile empir i cal research with the life course the ory and clar ify the internal migra tion deci sion-mak ing pro cess, a grow ing num ber of stud ies have applied sequence anal y sis to lon gi tu di nal microdata to trace inter nal migra tion path ways over sustained peri ods (Castagnone 2011;Coulter et al 2011;Karhula et al 2020;Stovel and Bolan 2004;Toma and Castagnone 2015;Vidal and Lutz 2018;Zufferey et al 2021). This new line of inquiry has revealed het ero ge ne ity in migra tion behav ior that is overlooked in year-to-year ana ly ses and has shown that migra tion tra jec to ries are often con tin gent on how young adults began their migra tion careers.…”

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

“…Since its appearance two decades ago (Abbott and Tsay 2000;Stovel, Savage, and Bearman 1996), sequence analysis has been commonly used in the social sciences, but has been rarely employed in migration research, despite a few applications (Coulter, Van Ham, and Feijten 2011;Karhula et al 2020;Stovel and Bolan 2004;Vidal and Lutz 2018). This is mainly because of data constraints, but the maturation of longitudinal surveys allows us to harness sequence analysis to the HILDA survey to elucidate how reasons for moving preceded one another in sequenced relationships.…”

Development and causes of migration in lagging regions in the years 2017–2021: a case study of the Slovak Republic

“…In addition to economic considerations, other important costs and benefits relate to local amenities or family issues [27]. Karhula et al [28] add however, that cheap housing in poorer urban areas can be an attractive option for those migrating to study. At least initially, students also have greater opportunities to move to wealthier areas after graduation.…”