Return Migration in the United States

Abstract

The migratory behavior of American has long been a matter of official concern. Migration was an issue even before Con? stitution was ratified and questions about place of birth were in? troduced into Census as early as 1850. Indeed, in 1852, Joseph Kennedy, then Superintendent of Census, noted the roving tend? ency of our people and expressed desire his countrymen would soon exhibit that attachment to homes of their childhood, want of which is sometimes cited as an unfavorable trait in our national character (1853:15). Since Kennedy's day, and particularly in last four decades, much attention, scholarly and otherwise, has been focused on migrants and social, economic, and environmental changes wrought by migration. Considerable emphasis has been placed on net shifts in population, but relatively little has been said about persons who cancel their migrations by returning to place of origin. When net in-migration to farms was indicated during 1931 and 1932 and again in 1945, (Banks and Beale, 1973) it was surmised return migration was responsible, but it was not until 1960 Census data were available for systematically analyzing volume and effect of return migration. Since then, 1970 Census has produced materials which parallel those published for 1960. In addition, 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity provided an even better source of materials on return migration (Bowles et al, 1973). One reason for this lack of interest in return migration may be return migrants comprise a small minority of total population. In 1960 and again in 1970, less than two percent of all persons five years