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The class structure of rural-to-urban migration The case of Norway

JOHAN FREDRIK RYE is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Rural Research, Norway. He graduated in sociology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 1999 and completed his Ph.D. in 2006 with his thesis on ‘Geographic and Social Mobility: Rural Youth's Rural-to-Urban Migration in Norway’. Address: Johan Fredrik Rye, Centre for Rural Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. [email: Johan.Fredrik.Rye{at}rural.no]

ARILD BLEKESAUNE

ARILD BLEKESAUNE is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Rural Research, Norway. He graduated in sociology from the University of Trondheim in 1987 and completed his Ph.D. from Norwegian University of Science and Technology in 1996. His fields of interest are research methods, family sociology and rural sociology. Address: Arild Blekesaune, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. [email: Arild.Blekesaune{at}svt.ntnu.no]

This article discusses the rural-to-urban migration of young people in Norway from a class perspective: To what extent do youth in different social classes have distinct migration patterns? Based on data from the decennial Norwegian Censuses (1960–90) and the Norwegian Migration Register (the Generation Database), the analysis traces the migration pattern of all Norwegians born in 1965 who grew up in a rural part of the country. The theoretical point of departure is a hypothesis that young people from better-off rural families are the most likely to leave the countryside in favour of a more urban life, particularly to take-up educational opportunities. This proposition is substantiated by the empirical analysis in the article, and is explained by the tendency of inter-generational reproduction of social class status and lifestyles, which encourages members of rural upper classes to migrate to urban areas, to a greater extent than among young people in the lower social classes.

Key Words: class • migration • rural-to-urban migration • youth • Norway

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