Primary and repeat migration: comparisons of Hispanic, Black and non-Hispanic white migration in the United States

Repetitive behavior is widespread in human life. This applies in areas of behaviors that are typically infrequent as well as normative daily routines. Yet, some individual never engage in some behaviors and individuals who initiate particular behaviors differ in the extent to which the behavior is repeated. In demography, one of the areas in which this general principle applies is between prior migration and subsequent migration with prior migrants being much more likely to migrate again than individual who have never migrated are to make a first migration. A major classification that emerged from this research was between primary migration and repeat migration with length of residence as a key consideration for prior migrants. Although a rich body of research emerged on this relationship (Goldstein 1954; DaVanzo and Morrison 1981) little recent research has built on this important area of migration research. Also, while there is an extensive body of research on Hispanic immigrants in the United States there is little research that compares the internal migration of Hispanics with non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks. A common note in the early research on primary and repeat migration was the need to examine the extent to which the relationship held across socioeconomic groups and settings. The main purpose of this research is to examine the extent to which Hispanic, Black and White primary and repeat migration rates differ once other migration related variables are controlled. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that began in 1979 are used in the analysis. During the study period the respondents transit the ages during which families and careers are typically launched and when migration rates are high.