New mobilities across the lifecourse: A framework for analysing demographically-linked drivers of migration

Date of acceptance: 17/02/2015Taking the life course as the central concern, the authors set out a conceptual framework and define some key research questions for a programme of research that explores how the linked lives of mobile people are situated in time–space within the economic, social, and cultural structures of contemporary society. Drawing on methodologically innovative techniques, these perspectives can offer new insights into the changing nature and meanings of migration across the life course.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Longitudinal Analysis of Moving Desires, Expectations and Actual Moving Behaviour

Residential mobility theory proposes that moves are often preceded by the expression of moving desires and expectations. Much research has investigated how individuals form these premove thoughts, with a largely separate literature examining actual mobility. Although a growing number of studies link premove thoughts to subsequent moving behaviour, these often do not distinguish explicitly between different types and combinations of premove thoughts. Using 1998–2006 British Household Panel Survey data, this study investigates whether moving desires and expectations are empirically distinct premove thoughts. Using multinomial regression models we demonstrate that moving desires and expectations have different meanings, and are often held in combination: the factors associated with expecting to move differ depending upon whether the move is also desired (and vice versa). Next, using panel logistic regression models, we show that different desire–expectation combinations have different effects on the probability of subsequent moving behaviour. The study identified two important groups generally overlooked in the literature: those who expect undesired moves and those who desire to move without expecting this to happen.The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning A, 2011, 43(11), pp. 2742-2760, doi:10.1068/a44105

Re-thinking residential mobility: Linking lives through time and space.

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from SAGE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309132515575417While researchers are increasingly re-conceptualizing international migration, far less attention has been devoted to re-thinking short-distance residential mobility and immobility. In this paper we harness the life course approach to propose a new conceptual framework for residential mobility research. We contend that residential mobility and immobility should be re-conceptualized as relational practices that link lives through time and space while connecting people to structural conditions. Re-thinking and re-assessing residential mobility by exploiting new developments in longitudinal analysis will allow geographers to understand, critique and address pressing societal challenges.Rory Coulter’s work on this paper was partly supported by an Economic and Social Research Council grant [ES/L009498/1]. Maarten van Ham’s contribution was supported by funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 615159 (ERC Consolidator Grant DEPRIVEDHOODS, Socio-spatial inequality, deprived neighbourhoods, and neighbourhood effects); and from the Marie Curie programme under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013) / Career Integration Grant no. PCIG10-GA-2011-303728 (CIG Grant NBHCHOICE, Neighbourhood choice, neighbourhood sorting, and neighbourhood effects). Allan Findlay’s work was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council grant [ES/K007394/1]

Who wants to leave the neighbourhood? The effect of being different from the neighbourhood population on wishes to move

Little attention has been paid to date to the role of the neighbourhood as a factor influencing residential mobility and the residential choice process. The question addressed here is to what extent neighbourhood characteristics (percentage of rented dwellings, low-income households, and ethnic minorities in the neighbourhood) influence different categories of residents to wish to leave their neighbourhood. The answer to this question can enhance our understanding of residential mobility and of the mechanisms causing segregation by income and ethnic groups. We use data from the 2002 Netherlands Housing Demand Survey, enriched with neighbourhood characteristics. Whether or not people wish to leave their neighbourhood is estimated using a multilevel logistic regression model with cross-level interaction effects between individual and neighbourhood characteristics. The main result shows that, with an increasing percentage of people from an ethnic minority in the neighbourhood, more people have the wish to leave the neighbourbood. However, this is to a lesser extent the case for members of ethnic minorities themselves.PostprintPeer reviewe

The consequences of divorce and splitting up for spatial mobility in the UK

Union dissolution is well known to have a disruptive effect on the housing situation of those involved, and often leads to downward moves on the "housing ladder". Much less is known about the geographies of residential mobility after union dissolution. There are, however, reasons to expect that those who experienced a union dissolution have a different likelihood of moving over longer distances than those who stay in a union, because of different moving motives. This study contributes to the existing literature by investigating the occurrences of moves, distances moved and the destinations of moves after union dissolution. The paper also contributes to the literature by investigating the effect on mobility not only of divorce, but also of splitting up and repartnering. Using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and logistic regression models, we found that union dissolution has a significant effect on the occurrence of moves and on moving distances.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe