Party penalty or party premium? ´Party-Swedes´ in Norway and their income before, during, and after migration

Young adults crossing borders between wealthy countries for work and adventure is an under-studied group of international migrants. In this paper, we use a unique combination of full population register data from both Sweden and Norway to explore the so called ‘Party-Swedes’ – young people emigrating from Sweden in 2010-12 to work in Norway. We follow them and their median income before leaving Sweden as well as during their stay in Norway and after possible return to Sweden. Additionally, using individual level data, we model selection into migration and return, as well as income levels after return. This enables us shed light on several theories and concepts in international migration research, such as those on selection into emigration and return, income maximization vs. target earning and concepts related to youth migration, such as the gap year within a context of liquid migration. Overall, our results suggest that in economic terms, the ‘party penalty’ seems clearly larger than the ‘party premium’. Even if these young Swedes earned well while staying in Norway, this did not translate into higher income than among their non-migrating peers after returning to Sweden. Additionally, a pronounced income drop the year after return and results showing that migrants rather postpone than abstain post-secondary education, speak of the youth migration to Norway as a ‘period of delay’ within the transition to adulthood.