South-North Labour Migration Within the Crisis-Affected European Union: New Patterns, New Contexts and New Challenges

Drawing on previous chapters and on available statistical data we identify the main features of the South-North migration. Firstly, we indicate that the intensity of the current South-North is relatively low if we take into account, on the one hand, the scale of the crisis-driven deterioration of the labour markets in southern countries and, on the other, the volume of the previous South-North migration in the post-war period. Secondly we show that new Southern European migrants are predominantly young and highly educated, particularly when compared with their counterparts, who migrated during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. We argue that, while the asymmetric impact of the economic crisis throughout the European Union and the unique features of the deeply fragmented labour markets of its Southern member countries may be considered primordial factors that triggered a renewed South-North intra-European mobility, its volume and composition are determined by the previous long term structural, demographic, social and economic transformations experienced by both Southern and Northern EU countries.