Rural-Urban (Im)Mobility, Occupational Achievement, and Social Inequalities in Europe

Hanne Gaukel , Università degli Studi di Milano
Maurizio Avola, Università di Catania
Roberto Impicciatore, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna
Nazareno Panichella, Università degli Studi di Milano

Internal migration can function as both a channel of upward mobility and a mechanism of social reproduction, the strength and direction of which depend heavily on regional opportunity structures. Most comparative studies have left the Southern European context underexplored, leading to a need for additional research on trajectories of geographical mobility. This paper thus uses SHARELIFE panel data to identify whether migration from rural origins to other rural or urban areas provides better opportunities for occupational attainment, potentially differing across distinct national contexts. This comparative perspective allows for a deeper understanding of how varying opportunity structures shape the link between geographical and social mobility. Analyses further consider gender and social inequalities, recognizing that the benefits of internal migration are not uniformly distributed across populations. Gender, social class, and education are critical dimensions influencing both the decision to migrate and the capacity to translate geographical mobility into occupational outcomes, uncovering whether migration acts as a driver of social mobility or, conversely, reinforces existing patterns of inequality. Preliminary results from linear probability panel models with fixed effects reveal that rural-rural and rural-urban mobility offer positive impacts on the outcome of employment, while mobility does not help women to avoid the working class. When stratifying results by education, more heterogeneous results emerge, where rural-urban migrants often, but not always, obtain the advantage in occupational attainment. Overall, the paper contributes to the broader debate on internal migration as a process situated at the intersection of spatial opportunity, social structure, and inequality, with cross-country differences.

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 Presented in Session 25. Economic Drivers of Internal Migration