Are Black Migrants from the South to the Northern Cities Worse off Than Blacks Already There?

Among Negroes living in an SMSA outside the South in 1960, those born in the South had higher incomes and less unemployment than those born in the North with or without standardizing for differences in age, years of school, and a number of other variables. Recent migrants, defined as those living in an SMSA in 1960 but not in 1955, did have lower incomes than those who were in SMSAs in both years, although the differential is larger for whites than for Negroes. Several possible explanations for these results are discussed. Economists often look at migration as an investment and compare the income of migrants with that of people who remained behind. This study focuses on a different aspect of migration. It compares the migrants with those who were already at the destination point. Specifically, the study examines the migration of Negroes from the South to the northern cities and, author is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. * statistical part of this study was performed at Rutgers University pursuant to a contract with the Office of Economic Opportunity. opinions expressed herein are those of the author and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the United States government. research also was supported in part by funds granted to the Institute for Research on University of Wisconsin, by the Office of Economic Opportunity pursuant to the provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. author is indebted to Kate Tallmadge, Mildred Evans, and Burt Barnow for computer programming, to Ronald Rudolph for research assistance, and to Patricia Koshel and Bette Mahoney of OEO and his colleagues at Rutgers and Wisconsin for advice and encouragement. Particularly helpful comments were received from Irwin Garfinkel, Michael Taussig, the referees, and from Kenneth Brown and other participants at a research seminar at Notre Dame. Journal of Human Resources * VII * 4 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 412 1 THE JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES for all regions, from rural to urban areas. income and labor-force status of these migrants are compared with the corresponding values for Negroes who were already in the cities. By doing such a study, we can obtain at least a partial answer to the question, How many of the problems facing northern (or urban) Negroes can be attributed directly to their migration from the South (or from rural areas)? If we find that the migrants are much worse off than nonmigrants, then more resources probably should be allocated to special organizations in the cities to assist the newcomers. It might also be very important to improve the quality of schooling and counseling in the areas from which the migrants came. results of this study indicate, however, that the migrants are likely to be better off than the nonmigrants, at least once an initial adjustment period is passed.l If the migrants are better off than the long-term urban residents, then efforts to improve the situation of northern Negroes should probably focus on the general issue of discrimination rather than on special programs to assist migrants. In addition, we should not be too optimistic that the position of northern Negroes will automatically improve as the migration slows down. This last statement must be qualified, however, since a decrease in the size of the migration might still improve the position of northern Negroes if the relative size of the Negro and white communities has an important effect on the opportunities available to Negroes. I. DATA AND THE MEASURES OF MIGRATION STATUS This study is based on data from the 1/1,000 sample of the 1960 Census. With these data we can look at both lifetime and recent migration. Lifetime migrants are Negroes who were born in the South but who are living in Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) outside the South in 1 Some earlier studies that have made somewhat similar comparisons, often as a side issue in connection with some other topic, are Karl E. and Alma F. Taeuber, Negroes in Cities: Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Change (Chicago: Aldine, 1965); Richard F. Wertheimer II, Monetary Rewards of Migration within the U.S. (Washington: Urban Institute, 1970); John F. Kain and Joseph J. Persky, The North's Stake in Southern Rural Poverty, in Rural Poverty in the United States (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968); Donald and Deborah Freedman, Farm-Reared Elements in the Non-Farm Population, Rural Sociology 21 (March 1965), pp. 50-61: Melvin Lurie and Elton Rayack, Racial Differences in Migration and Job Search: A Case Study, Southern Economic Journal 33 (July 1966), pp. 81-95; and John B. Lansing and James M. Morgan, The Effect of Geographic Mobility on Income, Journal of Human Resources 2 (Fall 1967), pp. 449-60. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms