Left behind and left out: Evaluating (dis)connections in the spatially focused migration network of England and Wales

Abstract

Previous research has often linked socioeconomic decline and 'left behind' places with out-migration and depopulation. Few analyses have reflected on the role of connectivity in the migratory system, and how this varies across groups and places to produce peripheralisation. Using detailed migration in England and Wales, we examine the level of spatial focusing of migration flows between local authority origins and destinations, using the Gini index. The study extends the established spatial focusing literature to consider the role of age and investigates the phenomenon in 'left behind' places. Our findings show the complexity of the role of migration in the production of left behind places, with implications for population redistribution.