White Mobility and Minority Ethnic Concentrations: Exploring Internal Migration Patterns for Electoral Wards in England and Wales using the 2001 Census

Abstract

Patterns of ethnic residential segregation within England and Wales have been linked to the idea that white people move away from, or avoid moving into, areas with large minority ethnic populations. Using analysis of the 2001 census, this paper explores the internal migration of the ‘White British’ ethnic group within England and Wales at the electoral ward level. It shows migration patterns are more complex than simply ‘white flight’ or ‘white avoidance’: areas of high minority ethnic concentrations with low inflows of the White British ethnic group are also areas of low outflows of the White British ethnic group; areas of high minority ethnic concentrations with high inflows of the White British ethnic group are also areas of high outflows of the White British ethnic group. Local area characteristics are stronger predictors of White British ethnic group mobility than whether the area is characterised by concentrations of minority ethnic groups.

Keywords:

• Census
• England
• Ethnic Concentrations
• Migration
• Wales
• White Avoidance
• White Flight

Acknowledgements

The author is very grateful to the ESRC for funding this research as part of its programme “Understanding Population Trends and Processes” (UPTAP), grant reference RES-163-25-0036. The author would like to thank the editors of this special issue for their helpful comments and Charlie Owen and Professor Ann Phoenix at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, for their advice and support with this research.

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Notes on contributors

Antonia Simon

Antonia Simon is a research officer with statistical expertise at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. She has extensive experience conducting secondary analysis on a wide range of national cross-sectional and longitudinal data-sets and has published in several leading journals, as well as two edited and co-authored books: In Care and After: A Positive Perspective (2006) and Working with Children in Care: European Perspectives. Maidenhead: Open University Press (2006)