The changes of migration structures of the Finnish regions in the 1990s and the municipality of residence act

Matti Saari, Statistics Finland

The Municipality of Residence Act took effect in Finland in June 1994. The main change in the situation was that students obtained the right to get the status of a de jure resident in the municipality where they lived de facto while studying. There is a very little research of the regional effects of the Municipality of Residence Act. The present study examines which structural demographic features of each area are connected to the effects of the Municipality of Residence Act. The aim of the study is to find models that in the 1970s and 1980s explained age-specific migration rates of areas. After finding accurate models, it is possible to forecast the migration rates of the 1990s in the case that the Municipality of Residence Act had not come into force. The data is population and migration data by 5 year age groups in all Finnish municipalities in 1975-2003.