Volume 17 - Article 21 | Pages 623-654

Residential mobility and migration of the separated


Date received:	15 Aug 2006
Date published:	20 Dec 2007
Word count:	8541
Keywords:	divorce, family dynamics, gender, hazard analysis, internal migration, longitudinal analysis, Netherlands, retrospective data, separation, spatial mobility
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2007.17.21

Abstract

Separation is known to have a disruptive effect on the housing careers of those involved, mainly because a decrease in resources causes (temporary) downward moves on the housing ladder. Little is known about the geographies of the residential mobility behaviour of the separated.
Applying a hazard analysis to retrospective life-course data for the Netherlands, we investigate three hypotheses: individuals who experienced separation move more often than do steady singles and people in intact couple relationships, they are less likely to move over long distances, and they move more often to cities than people in intact couple relationships. The results show that separation leads to an increase in mobility, to moves over short distance for men with children, and to a prevalence of the city as a destination of moves.

Author's Affiliation

Feijten Peteke - Netherlands Institute for Social Research, Netherlands [Email]
Maarten van Ham - Delft University of Technology, Netherlands [Email]