Marriage and Migration: Comparing Gains and Losses from Migration for Couples and Singles

In: Social science quarterly, Band 78, Heft 3, S. 688-709

Abstract

Compares 1983-1989 monetary returns to interstate mobility by sex & marital status via panel data analysis of the Surveys of Income & Program Participation (N = 74,653). Returns exhibit high variance, with a negative mean for couples & single men, while single women & single college graduates receive positive returns from moving. Married women experience a large reduction in personal income because of their reduced employment rates, which reflects their status as "tied" movers. The finding of lower returns to migration, compared with studies using data from the 1960s & the 1970s, reflects fundamental changes in economic motivations for migrating. 4 Tables, 21 References. Adapted from the source document.