Non-coresident family as a driver of migration change in a crisis: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kan, Unchitta, McLeod, Jericho, López, Eduardo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Kan, Unchitta
McLeod, Jericho
López, Eduardo
author_facet Kan, Unchitta
McLeod, Jericho
López, Eduardo
contents Changes in U.S. migration during the COVID-19 pandemic show that many moved to less populated cities from larger cities, deviating from previous trends. In this study, building on prior work in the literature showing that the abundance of family ties is inversely related to population size, we analyze these migration changes with a focus on the crucial, yet overlooked factor of extended family. Employing two large-scale data sets, census microdata and mobile phone GPS relocation data, we show a collection of empirical results that paints a picture of migration change affected by kin. Namely, we find that people migrated closer to family at higher rates after the COVID-19 pandemic started. Moreover, even controlling for factors such as population density and cost of living, we find that changes in net in-migration tended to be larger and positive in cities with larger proportions of people who can be parents to adult children (our proxy for parental family availability, which is also inversely related to population size). Our study advances the demography-disaster nexus and amplifies ongoing literature highlighting the role of broader kinship systems in large-scale socioeconomic phenomena.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_03254
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Non-coresident family as a driver of migration change in a crisis: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic
Kan, Unchitta
McLeod, Jericho
López, Eduardo
Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
Changes in U.S. migration during the COVID-19 pandemic show that many moved to less populated cities from larger cities, deviating from previous trends. In this study, building on prior work in the literature showing that the abundance of family ties is inversely related to population size, we analyze these migration changes with a focus on the crucial, yet overlooked factor of extended family. Employing two large-scale data sets, census microdata and mobile phone GPS relocation data, we show a collection of empirical results that paints a picture of migration change affected by kin. Namely, we find that people migrated closer to family at higher rates after the COVID-19 pandemic started. Moreover, even controlling for factors such as population density and cost of living, we find that changes in net in-migration tended to be larger and positive in cities with larger proportions of people who can be parents to adult children (our proxy for parental family availability, which is also inversely related to population size). Our study advances the demography-disaster nexus and amplifies ongoing literature highlighting the role of broader kinship systems in large-scale socioeconomic phenomena.
title Non-coresident family as a driver of migration change in a crisis: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic
topic Social and Information Networks
Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.03254