The Impact and Significance of Rural-Urban Migration in the United States

Peter A. Morrison

Expert InsightsPublished 1971

Testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Migratory Labor. It reviews why rural people move to urban areas; effects on migrants; effects on origin and destination. (1) Demographic and economic imbalances underlying migration include high rural natural increase and mechanization of agriculture. (2) Migration improves living standards and employment opportunities, notably for disadvantaged groups like blacks. So far as subjective adjustment is measurable, most migrants believe they are better off after moving to urban areas. (3) Migrants are, economically, more like urbanites joined than rural residents left. Although not a net gain when they first arrive, migrants soon become indistinguishable from native urban population of same education, age, race, and sex. Policy recommendations: (1) strengthen effectiveness of rural out-migration as means of individual material improvement, and (2) retain viability of declining areas as alternatives to urban living by consolidating delivery of health, education, and other social services. 20 pp.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Morrison, Peter A., The Impact and Significance of Rural-Urban Migration in the United States. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1972. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4752.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.