A “Migration of Despair”: Unemployment, the Search for Work, and Migration to Farms During the Great Depression

Robert L. Boyd

Social Science Quarterly, 2002, vol. 83, issue 2, 554-567

Abstract: Objective. This study examines migration to farms during the Great Depression, when many displaced workers moved to farms in nearby rural areas searching for a means of livelihood. Methods. Regression analyses of data from the USDA, Census Bureau, and other sources are used. Results. (1) The rate of migration was greatest in places where the search for work by the unemployed was most intense. (2) The “push” of economic dislocation was a more significant factor in the migration than was the “pull” of the expected payoff to the movement. (3) Those who moved tended to be the long‐term unemployed and labor force dropouts, suggesting that the migration was most sensitive to lengthy spells of joblessness. Conclusions. The results support hypotheses derived from theory and research and are most consistent with the classic “push‐pull” model, which holds that the jobless will move to look for work or for other means of sustenance.

Date: 2002
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