Are we now more settled? Migration and residential mobility in England and Wales since the 1970s Seminar

Recent evidence from the United States suggests that migration (as measured by long-distance changes of address) slowed from the late twentieth century. Explanations have been sought in terms of structural economic, technical, social and demographic changes that led to a increase in ‘secular rootedness’. Many of these social trends are common across North America and Europe so have there been similar decreases in migration outside the USA? The seminar considers the evidence for England and Wales using the ONS Longitudinal Study. It shows that migration fell in England and Wales but unlike in the USA most of this decline was for short-distance moves. It then investigates how far the changing composition of the population has contributed to this decrease in migration. Finally, it attempts to place these findings in wider social and theoretical contexts which deal with mobility in general.