Abstract
The study of the migration cycle is completed by examining the factors that influenced the decision to remain in the host society or return to the United States. The findings are drawn from the surveys conducted in Australia and Israel as well as a special sample of migrants who returned to the United States from Israel, called returnees. Analysis of changes in the number of Americans in Israel between the 1961 and 1972 Israeli censuses indicated that the percentage staying was 42% and that in the 1961–1982 period it had risen to around 48%. The corresponding two periods in Australia showed a decline. For the 1961–1970 period, the staying rate was 48%, and for the longer 1961–1981 period, the rate of those remaining declined to 25%. Whereas motivation for migration tended to cluster in quadrant A (self-expressive factors), and adjustments in quadrant B (self-instrumental concerns), the cross-pressures to remain or return focused predominantly on quadrant C (others-expressive issues), such as marriage, familial reunification, family harmony, and education of the children.
Parts of this chapter are adapted and expanded from Dashefsky and Lazerwitz (1983, pp. 271–273; 1986, pp. 58–59).
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Notes
- 1.
This is in contrast to an 80% staying rate for all immigrants to Australia according to Lukomskyj and Richards (1986).
- 2.
Scott and Scott (1989, pp. 24–25) also discussed the return rate of European migrants to Australia, which was considerably lower than for Americans.
- 3.
Waxman (1989, p. 182) reported a similar finding in his sample of 71 returned Olim. He noted among them a strong interest in Jewish day school enrollment for their children.
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Dashefsky, A., Woodrow-Lafield, K.A. (2020). Retention or Reemigration: Why They Remain or Return. In: Americans Abroad. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1795-1_8
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