Immigrant Social Structure and Gender Differentials in Internal Migration

Mary M. Kritz, Cornell University
Douglas T. Gurak, Cornell University

Utilizing 1990 and 2000 PUMS census files, this paper investigates the nature and extent of differences between foreign-born men and women in their propensity to migrate within the U.S., and whether migration patterns are shaped by their U.S. origin context. The context of origin (1985 and 1995) and boundary criteria for migration classification consists of 394 labor market regions (LMRs). Individual and context determinants of inter-LMR migration are estimated for over 30 origin groups. Three measures of gender context of the origin LMR are constructed by aggregation within LMRs. These are educational inequality between adult men and women, percent of adult women in the labor force, and the percent of adult women in married households. Multilevel models are estimated in order to assess the extent to which these and other context conditions influence migration beyond the contribution of individual demographic and socio-economic factors.