The class structure of rural-to-urban migration The case of Norway

Abstract

This article discusses the rural-to-urban migration of young people in Norway from a class perspective: To what extent do youth in different social classes have distinct migration patterns? Based on data from the decennial Norwegian Censuses and the Norwegian Migration Register (the Generation Database), the analysis traces the migration pattern of all Norwegians born in 1965 who grew up in a rural part of the country. The theoretical point of departure is a hypothesis that young people from better-off rural families are the most likely to leave the countryside in favour of a more urban life, particularly to take-up educational opportunities. This proposition is substantiated by the empirical analysis in the article, and is explained by the tendency of inter-generational reproduction of social class status and lifestyles, which encourages members of rural upper classes to migrate to urban areas, to a greater extent than among young people in the lower social classes.

Healthy Eating and Barriers Related to Social Class. The case of vegetable and fish consumption in Norway

“…Undoubtedly, this reflects a rather simplistic understanding of class matters in the social sciences. However, the chosen indicators of class status do capture the essence of social class differences as understood within the Bourdieusian theoretical tradition (Rye & Blekesaune, 2007).…”

Adolescent Migration Intentions and Population Change: A 20‐Year Follow‐Up of Icelandic Communities

“…; Corbett ; Bjarnason and Thorlindsson ) and various national census data do indeed show a significant decline in the rural population of young adults (e.g., Pacione ; Muilu and Rusanen ; Hamilton et al . ; Rye and Blekesaune ; Bjarnason ). The willingness of young people to leave rural communities has raised serious concerns over future demographic development in such communities (Gabriel ; Seyfrit et al .…”

Youth migration, rurality and class

“…Although ignored in recent ruralto-urban migration research, there seems to be a distinctive class pattern of individuals' migration careers at the aggregate level that invites scientific explanation. An illustrative example is the largescale studies of the full Norwegian 1965 rural birth cohort (reported in Rye, 2006a, andBlekesaune, 2007), which displays an inherent relationship between their social and geographical mobilities, their class location and migration patterns. The studies build on national register data containing information on individuals' class locations, both their parents' and their own, as well as their migration careers.…”