Migration motives across trajectories: what are migrants looking for?

This study examines how migration motives relate to lifetime migration trajectories in Indonesia using longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey. Moving beyond one-time and purely economic perspectives, we apply sequence analysis and multinomial logistic regression to map lifetime trajectories and their associated motives. We document three main patterns. First, internal migration commonly unfolds as multi-directional trajectories, including onward, return, and repeated movements, rather than single permanent moves. Second, migration motives vary across the life course. Work and housing-related motives are more prevalent in onward and adult one-way trajectories, while education and marriage are more common in earlier life stages, and affiliation is closely associated with return migration. Third, gender differences are evident in both trajectories and associated motives, with men more frequently linked to work-oriented mobility and women more often associated with affiliation-related movements, although female participation in education- and work-related migration is also observed. Overall, the findings suggest that migration is better understood as a life-course process in which motives and trajectories are closely intertwined, rather than fixed or one-off decisions.