Long-Term Trends in Spatial Mobility: An Order-Specific Analysis of Migration of Young Adults in Sweden

Hill Kulu, University of Liverpool
Emma Lundholm, Umeå University
Gunnar Malmberg, Umeå University

The aim of this study is to investigate spatial mobility over time. Most studies on internal migration focus on inter-regional migration flows; surprisingly little research has investigated spatial mobility over time. By using Swedish register data we will calculate annual age standardised migration rates to investigate spatial mobility of young adults over the last three decades. We will then disaggregate mobility rates by calculating order-specific migration rates. We will next standardise order-specific mobility rates for educational enrolment and level and for family status to determine how much changes in various life domains of individuals explain the change in mobility levels over time. The analysis shows that migration rates for young adults significantly increased in the 1990s; while all order-specific migration rates increased, the first migration rates grew the most. Changes in population composition, particularly increased enrolment in higher education accounted for much of elevated spatial mobility levels in the 1990s.