The Influence of Education and Socioeconomic Background on Age-Specific Migration from Finland

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the influence of educational attainment on the likelihood of migration from Finland. Annual hazard rates for migration in the late 1980s and 1990s are estimated using detailed micro data from the Finnish longitudinal population register. We show that the effect varies notably by age. Around age 20, the lowest educated people have the highest migration rates, whereas in higher ages the best educated are the most prone to migrate. We also find that people raised in the upper social classes have approximately twice the migration rates of those originating in the lower social classes. Socioeconomic background even turns out to have a stronger impact on migration than education has. The results highlight that making inference about the effect of education on migration can be highly sensitive to age- specific migration patterns, and that more attention should be directed towards the situation in the family home as a migration determinant.