Location of Adult Children as an Attraction for Black and White Elderly Return and Onward Migrants in the United States: Application of a Three-level Nested Logit Model with Census Data

This paper assesses the influence of the location of adult children on the 1985-90 interstate migration of black and white elderly "non-natives" (i.e. those whose state of residence in 1985 was different from their state of birth) in the United States, based on the application of a three-level nested logit model with 1990 census data. The model accounts for (1) the choice between departing and staying put, (2) the choice between return and onward migration, and (3) the choice of a specific destination. The main findings are as follows. First, elderly non-natives were strongly attracted by the location of their adult children when they made their migration decisions at all levels of the choice framework, and this attraction was stronger for the widowed than for those of other marital statuses. This finding can be taken as empirical support for Eugene Litwak's theory of the modified extended family. Second, in the return/onward and destination choice processes, the attraction of the location of adult children was found to be stronger for whites than for blacks. This finding is consistent with the finding of Hogan et al (1993) that whites had stronger intergenerational connections than did blacks.