The occupational mobility of rural-urban migrants: Madrid in the 1950s

Abstract

This article examines the occupational mobility of rural migrants moving into a major urban centre, Madrid, in the 1950s. Employment type is used as a further indicator of the labour market position of migrants. A new longitudinal dataset has been derived from a survey done during that period, and quantitative and qualitative research approaches are combined to provide a better understanding of occupational trajectories. The results show the importance of accumulating human capital that is transferable to an urban labour market, and of minimizing the costs of migration and integration so as to achieve a higher occupational status. The results also reveal that, once in Madrid, the conditions of the poorer and less-skilled southern migrants tended to converge with those of their more skilled northern counterparts.