Internal migration in the news

Internal migration in the news! Well, sort of…

Source: Guardian data blog: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-reform-impact-area#data – *No legend provided, but the colours would seem to represent an average loss of housing benefit – I’m guessing purple is the worst!*

In this article in today’s Grauniad (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/nov/08/housing-benefit-north-south-divide), it is warned that housing benefit cuts will make the South of England unaffordable for those claiming housing benefits,  heralding a wave of south-north migration.

If this were to happen, it would be unprecedented in recent history – not only has the dominant trend been for flows from the north to the south, driven by London’s position at the top of the urban and economic hierarchy; but migration flows have been chiefly characterised by moves of the more well-off.

As the recession (and the Coalition) bites harder and the welfare state comes under more strain, we await to see the knock-on effects on internal migration…

For a very comprehensive overview of the determinates of out-migration (circa the turn of the millennium) see:

Fotheringham, A. S., Rees, P., Champion, T., Kalogirou, S., and Tremayne, A. R. (2004), ‘The development of a migration model for England and Wales: overview and modelling out-migration’, Environment and Planning A, 36 (9), 1633-72.