Factors associated with the intention to stay in Israel among post-1990 immigrants

Abstract

This study examined the factors shaping immigrants' intention to stay in the host country. The data were attained from the immigrant survey conducted in Israel (N = 3,611) and analyzed using logistic regression models. The results show that labor market occupation, satisfaction with financial condition, belonging to 1.5 generation, number of years since migration, feeling at home in Israel, life satisfaction, immigration due to idealistic pull factors, and transnational ties maintenance relate to immigrants’ intention to stay in the host country. Analysis by groups (Ethiopia, Former USSR, and Europe-America) revealed that 1.5-generation immigrants were less likely to intend to stay in the country than first-generation immigrants in all three groups. Albeit in different directions, the number of years since migration related to the outcome variable in all three groups. Other significantly associated factors predicted the studied phenomenon in any one or two studied groups. The results imply that immigration-related phenomena are better understood when relating not only to the entire immigrant population but also to its separate groups. They also imply that the migration research conducted in the assimilation paradigm should examine the factors the relation of which to the studied phenomena may be explained using various theoretical frameworks.