Seasonal Migration of Retired Persons: Estimating Its Extent and Its Implications for the State of Florida

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Rose, Leslie S.^a | Kingma, Hildy L.^a

Affiliations: [a] Housing Research and Development Program, University of Illinois, 1204 W. Nevada, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract: Seasonal migration from northern states to southern states has become a common pattern among the nation's elderly, but little research has been done on the implications of this seasonal movement. This paper is an initial examination of the impact of this migration on one state, Florida, the state with the highest number of nonpermanent residents enumerated in the 1980 census. Data from the census and from a 1983 survey of Florida counties with census counts of 500 or more nonpermanent residents form the base for discussion of the extent and implications of seasonal migration to Florida. In spite of the severe limitations of the data, some useful conclusions can be drawn. The influx of elderly migrants was viewed ambivalently by the counties surveyed. The provision of goods and services to the migrants was considered important to the economic base, but it also caused some problems for the communities. Service overloads were reported and concern was expressed that the state and federal revenue sharing systems in effect at the time were based on a count only of permanent residents. This study is an exploratory one that indicates the need for further research on seasonal migration.

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1989-15106

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 91-104, 1989