Keywords

10.1 Introduction

Australia is a major immigrant receiving country with around 29% of its population born overseas in 2017 (ABS 2018). While the diversity of immigration streams to Australia by country of origin is well known (e.g. Hugo 2009; Jupp 2001; Khoo 2003; Markus et al. 2009; Richards 2008; Raymer et al. 2018; Wilson and Raymer 2017), such is not the case for the underlying age-specific patterns of migration. The ages of migrants entering (departing) represent an important aspect of demographic study (Castro and Rogers 1983; Plane 1993). They provide the basic information to understand demographic contributions to population age compositions and the numerical elements for studying levels of education, labour force participation, fertility behaviours and retirement cohorts. They also capture the underlying life course motivations comprising the moves, which represent fundamental aspects of demography (Willekens 1999) and the study of migration (Bernard et al. 2014). In this chapter, we study the different age profiles of international migration coming to and departing from Australia by country or region of birth.

In thinking about how one might explain differences in the age patterns of migration, we draw from Plane and Heins’ (2003) ‘age articulation’ article published in The Annals of Regional Science (see also Plane et al. 2005). Their paper examined inter-metropolitan migration flows in the United States during the 1985–1990 period with the aim of understanding the life course mechanisms driving the patterns. Through factor analysis, they identified seven clusters of age-specific migration that included college bound, leaving college, average, retirement, families and labour market, young families and labour market and older elderly. As stated in their article, age articulation refers to different shapes of age-specific migration found in origin-destination flows of migration.

Similar to Plane and Heins (2003), we rely on aggregate origin-destination migration flows by age groups but with international migration to and from Australia as our main interest. We are also interested in the effects of time, sex and locations on age articulation. In this chapter, we identify a typology of age-specific immigration and emigration to describe the main motivations and characteristics of migrants entering and departing Australia. This research is part of a larger Australian Research Council Discovery Project on ‘the demographic consequences of migration from, to and within Australia’. The aim of the project is to understand the sources of population growth of different immigration streams on their long-term contributions to population change.

Age profiles of immigration and emigration are required for understanding the demographic effects of Australia’s rapidly growing immigrant populations. Age profiles capture the contributions to the population’s changing age composition, including the female immigrants at risk of producing children within Australia. Age profiles of migration also reflect the different life course motivations underlying the international moves. For example, flows of international students exhibit immigration and emigration age profiles with relatively high concentrations of people in their young adulthood years. Labour flows, by contrast, display age profiles with young adults joined, in many instances, by their spouses and children. Age-specific emigration patterns of overseas-born persons also exhibit peaks in young adult years but are often slightly older than the corresponding immigration streams and may include substantial numbers of persons around their retirement age (e.g. ages 60–69 years).

Apart from revealing life course motivations, age profiles of migration are useful for assessing the economic and social impacts of international migration on Australia, which in turn have profound implications for policymaking and projections. For instance, large inflows of working-age migrants expand Australia’s labour force and help boost its economy, while sizeable inflows of children and the elderly may increase demand for social services, such as nurseries, primary schools and health care. Indeed, these issues are discussed in Plane and Heins’ (2003, p. 109) paper, along with a basic framework that we apply in this study:

  1. 1.

    Use geographic units that capture the ‘…greatest meaning with respect to current economic, cultural, and social conditions that mediate movement behaviour’.

  2. 2.

    ‘… only when both the origin and destination of migrant streams are examined is it possible to establish properly the interregional differentials between economic, cultural, and social conditions that truly do affect the size of migration streams’.

  3. 3.

    ‘…stage-in-the-lifecycle is the first and foremost micro-scale predictor of migratory behaviour…’.

Considering the above framework, we focus on age-specific international migration flows defined by the top sending countries of birth and remaining “rest of region” birthplaces. Furthermore, we are interested in the demographic impacts of international migration on Australia’s society over time, by sex and across states or territories within the country. In Australia, immigrants are highly concentrated in state capital cities and particularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Many areas outside these capital cities are in need of labour. Thus, government policies are in place to encourage migration to regional areas outside capital cities, albeit with limited success (Hugo 2008; Hugo and Harris 2011; Raymer and Baffour 2018).

10.2 Data

We focus on the age schedules or age profiles of migration, calculated by dividing each age- and birthplace-specific migration flow by the corresponding flow summed across age groups. This is in line with early research on analysing and parameterising age-specific migration by Rogers et al. (1978) and Rogers and Castro (1981).

The analyses in this chapter draw on two types of data: (1) reported and estimated flows of immigration and emigration flow data and (2) statistics on visa entries and exits. Data on immigration and emigration flows are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). They represent a time series of annual immigration and emigration from 1981 to 2016 disaggregated by age (0–4 years, 5–9 years, …, 80–84 years, 85+ years), sex, geography (8 states and territories of Australia) and place of birth (19 countries or regions). Since annual immigration and emigration flows by birthplace are only available from 2004 to 2016, annual birthplace-specific data on overseas arrivals and departures, based on visa category entries, were used to fill in the time series from 1981 to 2003. The methodology for producing the consistent time series of international migration data is described in Raymer et al. (forthcoming).

Flows of immigration and emigration to and from Australia, respectively, were small in the 1980s and 1990s for many of the overseas-born populations. For example, only around 7000 China-born immigrated to Australia during the 1981–1986 period with a corresponding 1300 persons emigrating. Similarly, around 6700 India-born persons immigrated to Australia in the early 1980s with 1500 persons emigrating. The issue of sparse data is even more acute at the state level. For instance, although more than 111,000 persons born in North Africa and the Middle East migrated to Australia during 2011–2016, only around 400 persons went to the Northern Territory. Out of the approximately 40,000 North Africa- and Middle East-born emigrants in the same period, less than 100 departed from Northern Territory. As another example, there were 138,000 persons born in Southern and Central Asia who migrated to Australia during the 2011–2016 period with just around 2100 settling in Tasmania.

The small flows of immigration and emigration at the national level in the early periods and the small states and territories in all periods of the study often resulted in irregularly shaped age profiles. Irregular age patterns of migration due to sparse data are not only hard to interpret but are also less useful when it comes to comparing age profiles over time, between birthplaces, and across space. A similar issue occurred in Plane and Heins’ (2003) analysis of inter-metropolitan flows in the United States, where flows less than 100 persons were removed because of their “unreliable age profile” (p. 113). While there are methods for smoothing irregularly shaped age profiles of migration (see., e.g. Bernard and Bell 2015; Rogers et al. 2010), we focus on the more recent national level flows and visa statistics (described below) to develop the typology of age-specific migration.

The second source of data used in this chapter represents annual visa statistics by citizenship sourced from the Department of Home Affairs. It consists of (i) student visas from 2006 to 2016 by applicant type, sector and sex, (ii) temporary graduate visas by sex (2006 not available), (iii) working holiday visas by sex, (iv) temporary skilled visas by age and sex and (v) permanent visas by stream and sex. Note, detailed visa statistics by citizenship are not available for any years prior to 2006.

10.3 Typology of Age-Specific Migration

Age profile typologies are useful for simplifying and understanding the key differences present in migration data (see, e.g. Pittenger 1974, 1978; Plane and Heins 2003; Raymer and Rogers 2008). In this section, we focus on age profiles of immigration and emigration by country or region of birth during the most recent 5-year period, i.e. 2011–2016. The observed 19 age profiles exhibit several common patterns, indicating that migrants from certain birthplaces may come to Australia for similar purposes. To investigate the motivations underlying these 19 observed age profiles of immigration or emigration, we compare the patterns with visa statistics provided by the Department of Home Affairs in the financial years of 2011–2016. In doing so, we assume correlation between migration flows by citizenship and migration flows by country or region of birth.

The ABS immigration and emigration data are based on accounts of individual travel patterns that result in persons staying (departing) in Australia for 12 out of 16 months. To align our analyses of visa statistics with the ABS methodology for measuring international migration, we decided to exclude visitor visas from our analyses because of their short-term nature, i.e. usually less than 3 months (DIBP 2016c). Student visas granted for English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) and other non-award sectors are also excluded because their durations of stay are often less than 1 year (DIBP 2016b). However, a portion of working holiday visa holders are included in our analyses because approximately 20% remain in the country for 12 out of 16 months (DIBP 2013, 2015, 2016a). Finally, humanitarian visas are not incorporated because of their relatively small numbers. In summary, the entry visa types used in our analyses to examine the motivations behind birthplace-specific immigration and emigration include (i) student visas (excluding the independent ELICOS sector and non-award sector), (ii) temporary graduate visas, (iii) working holiday visas (20%), (iv) temporary skilled visas and (v) permanent visas.

The five types of entry visas described above were further broken down into subcategories and then reclassified into four broader visa groups representing students, young labour, labour and family. The students group includes the primary applicants of student visas. The young labour group is comprised of temporary graduate visa holders, working holiday visa holders and temporary skilled visa holders aged between 15 and 29 years (DIBP 2016d). The labour group includes temporary skilled visa holders aged 30 years and above and permanent skilled visa holders. Finally, the family group consists of secondary applicants of student visas (restricted from studying more than 3 months and from working more than 40 h per fortnight), temporary skilled visa holders aged under 15 years, and permanent family visa holders (DIBP 2016b).

The relative shares of the regrouped entry visa types by country of citizenship in the periods of 2006–2011 and 2011–2016 are presented in Table 10.1. These shares are calculated from the detailed visa statistics provided in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. Such statistics are not applicable for Australian citizens because they do not need visas to enter. Likewise, New Zealand citizens also have a special category visa that does not specify travel purposes, such as for study, work or permanent settlement (DIBP 2016a).

Table 10.1 Entry visa types (%) by country of citizenship, 2006–2011 and 2011–2016
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In examining the age patterns of migration and their corresponding visa breakdowns set out in Table 10.1 (see also Appendices 1 and 2), we settled on four main classifications of flows to form our typology: (i) primarily labour, (ii) mixed students and young labour, (iii) mixed labour and family and (iv) primarily students. In Fig. 10.1, the 19 birthplace-specific immigration and emigration flows observed during the 2011–2016 period are grouped into these four classifications.

Fig. 10.1
figure 1

Typology of immigration and emigration flows by country or region of birth, 2011–2016

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In Fig. 10.2, six age profiles of immigration and emigration flows are presented. They represent the average age profiles for the four overseas-born migration flow classifications presented in Fig. 10.1 (summed across birthplaces) plus age profiles for the Australian-born and overall total populations. The primarily students classification exhibits the earliest young-adult peaks amongst the four classifications. Here, the peaks occur in ages 15–24 years for immigration and 20–24 years for emigration. These peaks suggest that young migrants come to Australia to commence their post-high school education and leave after they complete their degree in Australia. The mixed students and young labour classification, by comparison, is associated with higher and slightly later young-adult peaks. Reflected in these patterns are highly mobile young adults who have likely obtained their degrees somewhere else. They also appear to be short-term nature, as implied by the moderate differences between corresponding age peaks of immigration and emigration.

Fig. 10.2
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Typology of age-specific immigration and emigration for Australia, 2011–2016

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While both the primarily students and the mixed students and young labour classifications exhibit below-average proportions in ages 0–14 years, the primarily labour classification is characterised by above-average proportions in these age groups. The assumption is that these migrants bring their children with them. Another notable feature is that, amongst the four classifications, it has the largest proportions of elderly or retirement-aged persons.

The mixed labour and family classification has the highest proportions of child-aged immigration. Another type of migration that is likely to be included in these flows are humanitarian migrants (i.e. asylum seekers and refugees). This is based on auxiliary information obtained from DIBP (2016a, b, c, d), which showed that seven out of the top ten countries receiving humanitarian support during the period of 2011–2015 belonged to either North Africa and the Middle East or Sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of emigration, the mixed labour and family classification contains higher-than-average proportions of outgoing persons aged 35–54 years.

10.4 Changes Over Time, by Sex and Across Space

In this section, we explore the consistency in the typology of age-specific international migration presented in the previous section over time, by sex and across states and territories in Australia.

10.4.1 Time

We first look at the changes in age profiles since 1981. Here, we selected four birthplaces for illustration, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and China, and focused only on the immigration flows. As shown in Fig. 10.3, the evolution of the age profiles of the four birthplace-specific migration flows exhibits differing patterns. Steadily increasing from the early 1980s, the proportions of returning Australians in their young adulthood years reached their peaks in the early 2000s but dropped back to their starting level in the early 2010s. These changes were largely offset by the changes in the proportions of Australian children coming back to their birthplace, which experienced continuous decline until the period of 2001–2006.

Fig. 10.3
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Age proportions of immigration from selected birthplaces, 1981–1986, 1991–1996, 2001–2006 and 2011–2016

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New Zealand-born migration flows, meanwhile, exhibited an older age profile over time (Fig. 10.3). The proportions of New Zealand-born immigrants aged 20–24 years fell from 25% in the period of 1981–1986 to 15% in the period of 2001–2006 and stayed below 20% afterwards, while the proportions of incoming New Zealanders aged between 40 and 64 years experienced noticeable increases during these periods.

The age profiles of United Kingdom-born immigration flows, by contrast, became younger (Fig. 10.3). The increases in the proportions of United Kingdom-born migrants aged 20–29 years observed between the early 1980s and 1990s were accompanied by the decreases in the proportions of incoming United Kingdom-born children and persons in their 60s and their 70s, whereas such increases observed between the early 2000s and 2010s were accompanied by the drops in the relative numbers of United Kingdom-born immigrants aged between 30 and 44 years.

The age profiles of China-born immigrants also became younger over time (Fig. 10.3). This actually happened in a more dramatic way when compared to the shifts in the age profiles of United Kingdom-born immigrants. An important reason for such dramatic changes is the sparse data on China-born migration flows in the early 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in irregularly shaped age profiles of China-born immigrants in these two periods. Another noteworthy feature of the age profiles of China-born migrants is the low proportions of China-born children migrating to Australia over time, in stark contrast to the age profiles of the other three migrant populations.

We now examine changes in age profiles that have occurred over the past decade, with a particular interest in any transition in the typology of age-specific migration flows. In Fig. 10.4, the age profiles of immigration and emigration for the 19 birthplace-specific populations are presented for the 2006–2011 and 2011–2016 periods. In general, we find that the age profiles remained remarkably consistent over time with the exceptions of Northeast Asia-born and India-born migration. These two flows experienced transitions from primarily students in 2006–2011 to mixed students and young labour in 2011–2016. More specifically, the share of primary student visa holders for the Northeast Asia-born immigration decreased from 45% in 2006–2011 to 38% in 2011–2016, while the share of visas issued to young labourers increased from 26% to 34%, respectively. The share of primary student visa holders for the India-born immigrant group witnessed an even sharper decline from 43% in 2006–2011 to 23% in 2011–2016, while the share of labour visas increased from 38% to 59%, respectively. The shift in the age profile of Northeast Asia-born immigration was driven by increases in the number of young adult labour visas, notably working holiday makers, whereas the change observed by India-born immigration was contributed by increased young adult labourers and decreased numbers of students. The significant decline in the number of India students was also likely due to a change in the immigration policy in 2010, which removed occupations, such as hairdressers and cooks, from the skilled migration occupation list (Parliament of Australia 2010).

Fig. 10.4
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Age proportions of immigration and emigration flows from 19 birthplaces, 2006–2011 and 2011–2016

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Changes in the age profiles of migration of persons born in the United Kingdom and North Africa and the Middle East are also worth pointing out. Immigration of United Kingdom-born persons became younger between the two recent migration periods. This is a consequence of an increased young adult labour from 21% in 2006–2011 to 29% in 2011–2016. The factors contributing to this change include increased working holiday makers and young temporary skilled workers and decreased permanent skilled workers. These factors also help to explain the rises in the proportions of United Kingdom-born emigration of persons aged 25–29 years. By contrast, immigration of persons born in North Africa and the Middle East experienced reductions in the shares of young adults and growth in the shares of children and middle-aged persons. Detailed visa statistics reveal that while the number of student visas issued to applicants from North Africa and the Middle East remained more or less the same over the two most recent periods, there were more temporary skilled visas and permanent skilled visas granted in recent years.

Finally, another phenomenon worth mentioning pertains to the growing immigration of older persons from Vietnam and China. Looking closely at the age profiles of Vietnam-born and China-born immigration in Fig. 10.4, small yet noticeable upward shifts in the proportions of immigrants aged from 50–54 years to 65–64 years can be observed between 2006–2011 and 2011–2016. These immigrants are likely joining their family members already present in Australia. Curiously, this pattern is not observed amongst other immigrant groups.

10.4.2 Sex

In Fig. 10.5, we present the age profiles of immigration and emigration during the 2011–2016 period for the 19 birthplace-specific populations by sex. The most notable differences are found by persons born in the Philippines and North America. To further illustrate the differences for these two groups, consider the selected entry visa types for Filipino and North American citizens presented in Table 10.2 (see Appendix 3 for all the entry visa types). The share of North American males holding temporary skilled visas aged 30 years and above (28%) was 12 percentage points higher than that of North American females (16%), whereas the shares of North American females holding student visas and working holiday visas exceeded those of their male counterparts by 4 percentage points each. These patterns indicate that while the age profile of North American males belongs to the primarily labour classification, the age profile of North American females sits between the mixed students and young labour classification and the primarily labour classification.

Fig. 10.5
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Age proportions of immigration and emigration flows from 19 birthplaces by sex, 2011–2016

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Table 10.2 Selected entry visa types (%) by sex for Philippines and North America citizenships, 2011–2016
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Another interesting case of sex-specific age profiles of migration pertains to the Philippines-born population. Although the age profiles of both genders belong to the mixed labour and family classification, female immigrants from the Philippines are noticeably more concentrated in younger adult age groups than their male counterparts. Referring to the selected entry visa types in Table 10.2, the younger Filipino female migrants were mainly contributed by larger shares of student visa holders (20%) and permanent family visa holders (22%), in contrast to their male counterparts, who exhibited larger shares of temporary skilled visa holders aged 30 years and above. Auxiliary information on visa statistics has further shown that the number of spouse visas granted to female Filipinos was more than triple the number issued to male Filipinos for the year of 2012–2013 and around quadruple the number during 2014–2015 (Home Affairs 2018a, b). The family-oriented immigration patterns of Filipino females may be associated with the relatively high numbers of persons emigrating from Australia in their late 50s and their 60s for the purposes of returning home to care for ageing parents or to rejoin family.

10.4.3 Geography

Similar to comparing the typologies of migration by sex, the comparison of age profiles of birthplace-specific migrant groups across the eight states and/or territories in Australia focuses on the most recent 5-year period, i.e. 2011–2016. To simplify the comparison, we calculate age-specific ratios of the state- or territory-level age profiles to the national-level age profiles for each birthplace group and direction of flow. Ratios equal or near to one indicate similarity between the state or territory age profiles of migration flows and the national age profiles. Age-specific ratios larger (smaller) than one means that persons in those age groups are particularly attracted (not attracted) to that state or territory.

The results of the age-proportion ratios for all the 19 birthplace-specific migrant groups are shown in Appendix 4. We find age profiles of migration vary much more across geographic units than they do over time or by sex. Overall, age patterns of birthplace-specific migrant groups in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria (VIC) and Queensland (QLD) are similar to their respective age profiles at the national level. By comparison, age patterns in South Australia (SA), Western Australia (WA) and Australian Capital Territory (ACT) usually belong to the primarily labour classification or the mixed labour and family classification. Age profiles in both Tasmania (TAS) and Northern Territory (NT), by contrast, often resemble the mixed students and young labour classification, with most young labourers being working holiday makers, although age profiles in Tasmania also exhibit high proportions of elderly or retirement-aged migrants.

To illustrate changes in age-profile typologies across states and territories in more detail, four states (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania) and four birthplaces (Australia, United Kingdom, China and India) are selected and presented in Fig. 10.6. Due to the strong positive correlations between immigration and emigration age-proportion ratios, we only present the immigration age-specific ratios. Here, we find that Australia-born immigration flows exhibit similar age patterns in New South Wales and Victoria, both mirroring their age profile at the national level. The age patterns of Australia-born immigration to South Australia and Tasmania, by comparison, do not resemble the national-level age profiles with considerably more middle-aged and retirement-aged persons.

Fig. 10.6
figure 6

Selected age-specific ratios of state or territory immigration age profiles to national age profiles, 2011–2016

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Compared to Australia-born migrants, United Kingdom-born migrants exhibit more noticeable variations in their age profiles across states. The proportions of United Kingdom-born migrants aged 20–24 years and 25–29 years in New South Wales and Victoria are both higher than the proportions at the national level, indicating these states’ relative attractiveness to these ages. South Australia, by comparison, features higher proportions of United Kingdom-born migrants both aged below 15 years and aged above 35 years. Here, the patterns resemble more the mixed labour and family classification than the primarily labour classification. Immigration to Tasmania of United Kingdom-born persons, on the other hand, attracts considerably more middle-aged labourers and retirees.

Varying age profiles across space are also observed for immigration of persons born in China and India. While the age profiles of China-born immigration to the four selected states all fit within the primarily students classification, this pattern is much more distinct in Tasmania than it is in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Specifically, the proportions of Chinese immigrants aged 20–24 and 25–29 years in Tasmania were more than 1.5 times as high as the corresponding proportions observed at the national level. Another interesting pattern is that New South Wales exhibits higher proportions of immigration of Chinese-born persons aged 50 years and older. Immigration of India-born persons displays a particularly unique age profile in South Australia. This flow exhibits much higher proportions aged below 10 years and in the ages 30–44 years. These patterns indicate that the age profile of India-born migrants to South Australia resembles the mixed labour and family classification rather than the mixed students and young labour classification.

10.4.4 Summary

Age profiles of international migration to and from Australia for 19 birthplace-specific populations have been classified as primarily students, mixed students and young labour, primarily labour, and mixed labour and family. Using this typology as a basis, we have explored changes in the typology of age-specific migration flows over time, by sex and geography. Over time, we found the age profiles of immigration and emigration have been relatively stable, except for persons born in Northeast Asia and in India, whose age patterns both shifted from the primarily students classification during the period of 2006–2011 to the mixed students and young labour classification during the period of 2011–2016. Notable changes in age profiles were also observed for migration of persons born in the United Kingdom and in North Africa and Middle East. Similarly, we found little differences in the immigration and emigration patterns by sex. Immigrants born in North America and in the Philippines were the only two groups that exhibited substantial differences in their age profiles.

In contrast to changes in age profiles over time and by sex, variations across states and territories in Australia were highly discernible. For example, during the 2011–2016 period, the overall United Kingdom-born immigration flow was classified as primarily labour, yet the age profile observed for the corresponding immigration flow to South Australia resembled more the mixed labour and family classification. Similarly, the national age profile of India-born immigration was mixed students and young labour classification, but the age profile observed in South Australia resembles the mixed labour and family classification.

10.5 Conclusion

In this chapter, we have examined age-specific patterns of immigration and emigration and formed a typology for better understanding the primary motivations for migrating from and to Australia. We find that the types of visas used to enter the country may explain many of the differences in the observed age profiles of migration to and from Australia. The main motivations of immigration to Australia appear to be education and labour, with some immigrants bringing their family members with them. The corresponding flows of emigration exhibit lags in the age profiles—implying that once the study or labour is completed, migrants return to their origin country or seek opportunities in other countries.

For our typology of age-specific migration, we gathered detailed immigration and emigration flow data for 19 different birthplace populations by age and sex from 1981 to 2016. However, there were two limitations in these data. First, as we were unable to directly compare the age profiles of migration with the underlying visa entries data, we assumed some relationships between the data sources. Ideally, we would link the two data sets together and examine those age profiles. Second, our data was affected by sparseness especially in the earlier periods of migration and for some states or territories. This limited our analysis to the large states and large flows of migration.

A typology of age-specific migration is useful for simplifying the complexity of migration and for relating migration to life course processes. We have followed Plane and Heins’ (2003) framework and analysed origin-destination flows to develop the typology. The origins in our research, however, represented the birthplace of the immigrants and emigrants, which is slightly different from place-to-place migration, as people with different birthplaces may not be migrating from their country or region of birth. Typologies of age-specific migration are also useful for informing population projections. For example, De Beer (2008) proposes the use of argument-based projection models for immigration and emigration to and from the Netherlands. Willekens (2018), furthermore, argues for a causal approach to migration forecasting. While this chapter has not dealt with forecasting migration, we believe the incorporation of a typology of age-specific migration into population forecasting models would inform both argument-based projections and causal-based forecasting models.

In the future, we plan to use this research to study the sources and implications of immigrant population change in Australia. The ages of entry and exit have many implications for the labour force, education, family formation and retirement. Understanding who is coming into the country, and at what ages, is essential for studying the short-term and long-term effects of migration. We hope this research will inspire others to articulate age patterns of migration so that a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the patterns may occur.