The migration patterns of today seem to be of different character. The division of labour has
more and more had a regional nature, with an accentuated regional polarisation as one result
(with regard to the Swedish case, see e.g. Bengtsson & Johansson, 1994; Johansson &
Persson, 1999, 2000). The result of these processes was a further regional segmentation and
polarisation of the labour force, a development that hampered labour migration from rural and
old industrial areas to regions dominated by more dynamic and knowledge-based activities.
The share of job seekers among the movers has also decreased and the connection to
economic fluctuations has thus in large ceased to exist. This process began already during the
80s but disappeared completely during the 90s (Johansson & Persson, 1999). One indication
of this can be seen in Figure 1 where the connection between net-migration 1990 and 1999
with respect to 284 municipalities is estimated and where it is evident that the connection
between the two years totally has disappeared. This is an indicator that new out-migration
areas and local labour markets has disturbed and changed the traditional map of “black
Sweden”. This may also be a manifestation of the crisis of the small and medium-sized towns
and municipalities during the 90s (see e.g. Johansson, 2000b, 2001).
The rise in the migration intensities during the 1990s compared to the 1970s and 1980s is - at
least partly - a consequence of the crisis in the sense that many more young people have
started to study. During the 1990s, the number of persons in study programmes has increased
compared both to the situation during the 1970s and 1980s. During the 1990s the obligation to
be registered at the study place has also speeded up the migration intensities at least in the
official figures. The sharp rise in the migration intensities for young people who began to
study is a more important factor for the rise in the internal migration during the 1990s.
Compared to previous decades it is in the ages 19-26 that the migration intensities are higher
during the 90s - for all other cohorts, they are lower (Johansson & Persson, 1999; Statistics
Sweden). This fact is also an indication that the importance of labour force migration has
decreased during the past decade. Migration has instead become more study-related and many
young people move “ad hoc” more or less “going with the tide” - the majority if the moves in
Sweden today are not primarily job related. This general trend has affected the majority of
Sweden’s municipalities; the increase in migration can be entirely explained in the
movements of young people (Johansson & Persson, 1999; Johansson & Person, 2000; Garvill,
Malmberg & Westin, 2000).