A dynamic analysis of conditions under which internal migration impacts on female occupational sex-segregation in Britain

Francisco Perales, University of Essex
Sergi Vidal, University of Bremen

Are long distance residential changes and internal migration drivers of the occupational sex-segregation of women? This is the main question driving our research. It goes further than the widely addressed and well documented negative effect of migration of married women on their employment outcomes. In particular we focus on answering two more detailed questions: Under what conditions occupational mobility of migrant women is likely to be aligned with occupational sex-segregation? Is migration driving women occupational sex-segregation to low-skilled occupations? We make use of longitudinal data for Britain (BHPS) and estimate dynamic models for the probability of ending up in an occupation with a significantly higher share of females. We analyse to what extent occupational sex-segregation is related to partnership situation, partner’s occupational status and women’s occupational sex-segregation before the move took place. The analyses are extended to different points in time after residential move took place and results compared to those of men. Finally, we identify whether this pattern is characteristic of a particular ‘branch’ of the occupational structure or whether it spreads across occupations. This analysis offers novel insights on how residential change impacts women’s occupational dynamics.