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A “Migration of Despair”: Unemployment, the Search for Work, and Migration to Farms During the Great Depression

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  • Robert L. Boyd

Abstract

Objective. This study examines migration to farms during the Great Depression, when many displaced workers moved to farms in nearby rural areas searching for a means of livelihood. Methods. Regression analyses of data from the USDA, Census Bureau, and other sources are used. Results. (1) The rate of migration was greatest in places where the search for work by the unemployed was most intense. (2) The “push” of economic dislocation was a more significant factor in the migration than was the “pull” of the expected payoff to the movement. (3) Those who moved tended to be the long‐term unemployed and labor force dropouts, suggesting that the migration was most sensitive to lengthy spells of joblessness. Conclusions. The results support hypotheses derived from theory and research and are most consistent with the classic “push‐pull” model, which holds that the jobless will move to look for work or for other means of sustenance.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert L. Boyd, 2002. "A “Migration of Despair”: Unemployment, the Search for Work, and Migration to Farms During the Great Depression," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(2), pages 554-567, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:83:y:2002:i:2:p:554-567
    DOI: 10.1111/1540-6237.00100
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    Cited by:

    1. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Robert E. Moore, 2022. "Some Like it Hot: Assessing Longer-Term Labor Market Benefits from a High-Pressure Economy," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(2), pages 193-243, June.
    2. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Anil Rupasingha, 2021. "Individual social capital and migration," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 808-837, June.
    3. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & John C. Robertson, 2008. "The Push-Pull Effects of the Information Technology Boom and Bust," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 22(3), pages 200-212, August.
    4. Sichko, Christopher, 2021. "Migrant Selection and Sorting during the Great American Drought," SocArXiv wm2p3, Center for Open Science.
    5. Boyd, Robert L., 2005. "Race, gender, and survivalist entrepreneurship in large northern cities during the Great Depression," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 331-339, May.
    6. Sichko, Christopher, 2024. "Migrant selection and sorting during the Great American Drought," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    7. Julie L. Hotchkiss & M. Melinda Pitts & John C. Robertson, 2006. "The push-pull effects of the information technology boom and bust: insight from matched employer-employee data," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2006-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    8. Rasnaca Liga, 2012. "Peculiarities of the employees' recruitments by rural employers: the case of Latvia," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 4(3), pages 192-207, January.

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