Local Ties as Self-Reported Constraints to Internal Migration in Spain

The internal migration literature has identified various factors that deter migration and encourage staying, but has been less concerned with people’s own reports about what makes it difficult for them to migrate or makes them want to stay. We explore factors that make it difficult to change the place of residence—from here on denoted as constraints—reported in the Spanish survey on Attitudes and Expectations of Spatial Mobility in the Labour Force (N = 3892). These constraints were uniquely asked from all respondents through an open-ended question, regardless of their migration intentions. We find that many self-reported constraints correspond to factors that have previously been associated with decreased migration propensities. In order of frequency, respondents reported ties to family and friends, ties to their residential environment, financial limitations, and ties to work as constraints to migration. Our results further show that the likelihood of mentioning ties to family and friends as constraints decreased with age, was higher for women than for men and for people who lived close to most of their social network than for those who did not. Mentioning ties to the residential environment as constraints was positively associated with being partnered, and also with living in one’s birthplace. People who were unemployed were less likely to mention ties to work and were more likely to report financial limitations as constraints than people who had a permanent contract—whereas being self-employed was positively associated with mentioning ties to the residential environment.