Full Citation
Title: Migration and the Spatial Redistribution of Nonearnings Income, 1975-2000
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2004
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Abstract: The aging of the Baby Boom and the volatility of the stock market are well-documented processes that will have significant impacts on the United States economy and the ways we prepare for retirement. At the national scale, we can expect the rate at which individuals draw on Social Security to increase more quickly than the size of the labor force, yet the ways in which this migration serves to redistribute Social Security income across space remain unstudied. This paper highlights regions that are becoming increasingly attractive to Social Security in-migration. Overall, there is a consistent Rustbelt to Sunbelt shift in Social Security income due to migration, and these shifts are mostly consistent for both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of these regions. Starting in the late 1980s, however, nonmetropolitan portions of the Rustbelt were also enjoying net gains in Social Security income through the in-migration of younger retirees. Therefore, it appears that migration systems that during the 1970s drew income away from the nonmetropolitan north are shifting to some degree. Indeed, decomposing the income flows into traditional shift-share components illustrates the consistent positive income competitive shifts enjoyed by nonmetropolitan territory in all regions. The analysis further indicates retirement migration creates greater levels of economic disparity across space. The vast majority of both nonmetropolitan and metropolitan regions are losing retirees with the highest levels of Social Security income, and these migrants are concentrating in relatively few destinations. While these destinations are likely to enjoy significant economic benefits as new sources of income tied to migration arrive in their communities, the places of origin are left with less-well-off elderly populations posing significant social and economic problems in these sending regions.
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Authors: Nelson, Peter
Conference Name: Association of American Geographers annual meetings
Publisher Location: Philadelphia, PA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Aging and Retirement, Migration and Immigration, Other
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