Residential Mobility of the European Elderly

With the ageing of the European population, the housing choices of the elderly will have consequences on the whole housing market. In this paper we use data from the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to analyse the residential mobility decisions of the elderly and the factors influencing them in eleven European countries.housing, ageing, residential mobility, housing policy

Validating SHARE in France with other French surveys : health and income data

The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) is cross national: the questionnaire is identical across all participating countries and, because of the modest size of the sample in each country, it is usually not feasible to proceed to solely national use of the data. Moreover, as SHARE is unique in Europe in terms of scope and target sample, its results cannot easily be validated by comparison with other similar cross national surveys. This paper attempts to relate some key SHARE variables to their counterparts in other French surveys. We concentrate on health and income data that we relate to various INSEE surveys on Health, Consumption, Housing and Income. Concentrating on France, where the SHARE survey agency is the National Statistical Institute, allows the comparison to abstract from sample design and interviewers’ quality effects. We surmise that an ex ante harmonized questionnaire such as SHARE is easier to apply in qualitative domains such as health, or in non-ambiguous quantitative measures such as weight and height, but is harder in domains where each country has its own institutions and concepts. We assess the quality of the income questions both at the extensive margin (who gets what type of income, and non-response conditional on receiving) and at the intensive margin (what are the main quantiles of income distribution for recipients). We find that the French SHARE data are of good quality when the questions are simple. For instance, the body mass index of males is the same in the Health survey and in SHARE. However, discrepancies can be larger on quantitative data. They seem less important on the extensive than on the intensive margins, and generally less in wave 2 than in wave 1. We suggest some ways to improve the quality of future waves of SHARE.SHARE ; Survey Methodology ; Cross-country comparison ; Survey design ; Data collection ; Survey method for income data ; Survey method for subjective health data ; Measurement error ; Non-response

Leaving The Nest: Between Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces

The way in which young people leave home has changed over the last twenty years due to massive enrolment in higher education and unemployment fluctuations. The increase in coresidence with parents from 1984 to 1996 was due mainly to the development of higher education. Coresidence decreased with the drop in unemployment from 1996 to 2002. However, there is still little known about how parental income influences young adults decisions to leave home. Using the 2002 Housing survey, we deem that the children from the poorest and the richest families are most likely to leave home. Yet the quality of the parental housing is an important factor. Its location is key. Less space encourages children to leave home, as does the lack of privacy due to the presence of a stepparent. Given an equal quality of parental housing, children are more likely to leave home when their parents can assist them.Altruism, Housing Demand, Living Arrangements, Youth, Family Structure

Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Health, Ageing, Survey Methodology, International Comparisons

Les seniors de moins en moins mobiles, les jeunes toujours plus mobiles : l’évolution de la mobilité résidentielle est-elle paradoxale ?

Nous recherchons l’influence de certains facteurs exogènes tels l’âge ou le revenu sur la mobilité résidentielle et son évolution, ainsi que celle de facteurs plus endogènes comme l’état du logement ou son statut d’occupation. La mobilité est surtout saisie à travers son corollaire, l’ancienneté d’occupation du logement : plus grande est cette ancienneté, moins on est mobile. Il apparaît que : 1. l’ancienneté a augmenté de 1984 à 1996 et légèrement baissé entre 1996 et 2002. Ce mouvement résulte de deux évolutions opposées. L’ancienneté augmente chez les plus de 65 ans et diminue chez les moins de 65 ans, surtout chez les plus jeunes. On observe à la fois davantage d’anciennetés courtes et davantage d’anciennetés longues ; 2. à tout âge et tout niveau de revenu, davantage de ressources diminuent l’ancienneté. L’effet est plus fort dans le premier quartile de revenu, ce qui témoigne de contraintes des coûts de mobilité ; 3. les locataires en secteur social de l’agglomération parisienne font exception à cette règle : leur revenu est lié positivement à leur ancienneté ; 4. l’augmentation de la mobilité des moins de 65 ans s’observe pour les locataires du secteur libre ; ce l’est moins pour ceux du secteur social ou les propriétaires. Chez les plus de 65 ans la baisse de la mobilité s’observe surtout pour les propriétaires et les locataires du secteur social.This article looks into how exogenous factors, such as age and income, or more endogenous tenure status or housing quality, influence residential mobility and its evolution. Mobility is measured through its corollary, the length of tenure in the current home. The longer the length of tenure the lower the mobility. We find that 1. The length of tenure increased between 1984 and 1996, and slightly decreased between 1996 and 2002. This movement is the result of two opposite trends. Length of tenure increased for those above 65, and decreased for those below 65, especially the youngest. More short and more long lengths of tenure are both observed. 2. More income reduces the length of tenure at all ages. The income gradient is steeper at lower level of income, which points to income constraints to residential mobility for the poorest households. 3. One exception to the rule is found for the Parisian tenants living in public housing: for them income is positively linked to length of tenure. 4. The increase in the mobility of the young is observed for private sector tenants; less for tenants in public housing or owner occupiers. Among those 65 and more, the decrease in mobility is observed for tenants in public housing or owner occupiers