Abstract

PIP: This study examines the impact of migration on the employment status of active primary migrants in Egypt. 5 categories are discussed: 1) account workers, 2) employers, 3) employees, 4) unpaid family workers, and 5) the unemployed. The primary data sources is the internal migration differentiations sample survey carried out in 1979 by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Internal migration leads to basic changes in the employment status of migrants. Active migrants at the destination seem to have a better status than nonmigrants at the origin or the active population. This is especially so for active migrants to urban areas, who represented more than 4/5 of all active migrants in 1979. Unemployment rates among active migrants decrease to a very large extent at the destination compared to those at the origin. Among the basic variables affecting employment status of active migrants at the destination are favorable age composition, the relative improvement in educational status, and the length of exposure to urban life. The increase in the proportion of own-account workers and employers among active migrants to urban areas as duration of current residence increases needs further investigation to clarify the reasons for this. Similarly, the increase in the proportion of unpaid family workers among active female migrants to rural areas as duration of current residence increases also needs further investigation. Rural to urban male migrants seem to have achieved the highest degree of relative employment status mobility at the destination compared with other migration streams.