Familial components of first migrations after marriage in nineteenth-century France
Abstract
The risk of migration for an individual is linked to the occupations and residences of kin in nineteenth-century France, thanks to the ‘3000 Families Survey’ of chained genealogies. Familial dependence is assessed through a multi-level hierarchical event-history analysis. The risks of migration must be differentiated by the distance of the move: short- and long-distance moves appear to be stimulated by different processes. No matter the distance of the move, no ‘network’ of sibling assistance emerges: none the less, the father's commune exerts a consistent pull and having an eldest sister at home or an eldest brother in a high-valued occupation increases the risk of migration of other siblings. A new birth, rather than the size of the family, tends to trigger moves. The young used to move more, often a few years after marriage. Literacy is associated with longer distance moves. The flow of migration increased over the century. Although no specific geographical pattern emerges, migration between cities dominated in terms of risk, while rural-to-urban migration developed slowly, but dominated in terms of volume.