Women’s migration to cities

Bibliographic Data

ID21342841
AuthorsMarjolijn Das (0000-0002-3824-1120, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, corresponding author), Willem R Boterman (0000-0002-8908-5842, Amsterdam University College), Lia Karsten (Amsterdam University College), Jan Latten (Amsterdam University College), Jan J Latten
Year2023
Volume55
Issue3
Pages397-424
Publication date2023-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Biosocial Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9320 • E-ISSN: 1469-7599
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s002193202200013x
PMID35343404
OpenAlexW4220761576
LanguageEN
References cited57

This study investigates the consequences of female rural-urban migration with respect to their education, career, and relationship and family formation in the Netherlands. The study is based on four birth cohorts of Dutch women born in 1970-1973 in rural areas, comparing those who had migrated to urban areas before the age of 25 with those who had remained behind. Outcomes were measured at age 42. The data were derived from administrative registers available at Statistics Netherlands. The results show that female migration to cities served to increase women’s resources: they were more often university educated and had better paid jobs, in line with the idea of cities as socioeconomic escalators. The city also functioned as a relationship market with a relative abundance of men with resources. Both lower and university educated city women were more likely to be in a relationship with a highly educated man compared to their rural peers. However, lower educated women had an increased probability of being single at age 42 when they lived in cities at age 25. This was not the case for university educated women. In conclusion, for lower educated women urban migration may entail risks as well as benefits, especially with respect to family formation. University educated women on the other hand benefited both in terms of their own socioeconomic outcomes and in terms of their partners’ resources

Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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