Internal migration following adverse life events: Assessing the likelihood of return migration and migration toward family.

There are well-documented associations between life course changes and migration; yet, the occurrence, order, and timing of reasons for migrating are growing increasingly diverse. Migration following adverse life events, such as a divorce or an involuntary job loss, may be qualitatively distinct from migration undertaken for other reasons. Moves, especially long-distance moves, following adverse life events, may be defined more by seeking family and familiar locations. Moreover, a heightened probability of migration may occur not only immediately after an adverse life event but also in the years after. We explore these questions in the US context with longitudinal data from the 1983 to 2019 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which provides information on residential locations, locations of family members, and adverse life events for individuals over time. We focus on five specific events: divorce, the death of a spouse, involuntary job loss, the onset of a chronic physical health condition, and the onset of a chronic mental health condition. Using multivariate regression, we find that divorce and job loss induce long-distance moves, especially return moves and moves towards family. Chronic physical conditions deter moving in general but increase the chances of return moves (after a period of time) and moves towards family. These results have implications for understanding migration as a response to adverse life events, both immediately and over time.

Migration for family and labour market outcomes in Sweden.

Using information on stated motives for migrating among working-age individuals in the 2007 Swedish Motives for Migration survey (N = 1,852), we use multinomial logistic regression to examine whether and how moves for family reasons are linked to labour market outcomes in ways that differ from migration initiated for other motives, including more overtly labour-related factors. The results indicate that family-based migration is associated with worse labour market outcomes than migration for employment or other reasons. Additionally, family-motivated migrants with co-resident children are more likely to experience labour market deterioration than those without children. Among those who were unemployed before moving, those who reported family as a motive for moving were significantly more likely to be employed after the move. These results help us better assess how families and social networks impact economic outcomes-negatively in some circumstances and positively in others.

Migration after union dissolution in the United States: The role of non-resident family.

Separation from a spouse or cohabiting partner is associated with a high likelihood of moving, even over long distances. In this paper, we use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the United States to analyze the role of non-resident family in the migration of separated people immediately after and in the years following union dissolution. We explore both migration in general and return migration among separated people, drawing comparisons to married and never-married people. We find that having parents, children, or siblings living close by substantially deters migration, especially among separated people. We also find marked positive effects of having family members in the county where the respondent grew up on the likelihood of returning there. Separated people are especially likely to return, compared to others, if they have parents in their county of origin. Furthermore, a lack of an effect of years of education on migration, and a negative effect of this variable on return migration, suggest that migration after separation is less related to human-capital considerations than other types of migration.

Measuring migration motives with open-ended survey data: Methodological and conceptual issues.

Motives for migration are difficult to measure. Open-ended data collection can be an attractive option, but also comes with pitfalls. We use the "Motives for Migration" survey on internal migration in Sweden to identify some of these pitfalls. We identify five categories of methodological issues: how the respondents-and we-dealt with multiple motives for migration; who the motive pertained to (i.e., the respondents themselves or someone else in the household); whether the motive was related to a status or an event; which third-party person(s) the respondent meant to refer to; and which geographical unit the motive pertained to. We also identify two conceptual issues: (1) the distinction between reasons for moving and location choice and (2) the distinction between moving "from" and moving "to" somewhere. We present some suggestions that will be useful for future attempts to study the topic and possibly such other topics as motives for immigration, getting married, or leaving the parental home.

Young Adults' Migration to Cities in Sweden: Do Siblings Pave the Way?

Young adult internal migration forms a large share of the influx of people into large cities in the developed world. We investigate the role of the residential locations of siblings for young adults' migration to large cities, using the case of Sweden and its four largest cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö/Lund, and Uppsala. We use register data for the full Swedish-born population of young adults aged 18-28 living in Sweden in the years 2007-2013 and multinomial logistic regression analyses of migrating to each of the four cities or migrating elsewhere versus not migrating. Our point of departure is the paving-the-way hypothesis, which posits that young adults who have a sibling living at a migration destination are particularly likely to move to that destination, more so than to other destinations. Additional hypotheses are related to having more than one sibling in the city and to the gender of siblings living at the destination. We find support for the paving-the-way hypothesis and an additional effect for having more than one sibling in the city. Having a sibling of the same gender in a city matters more for moving there than having a sibling of the opposite gender.

Young adults' return migration from large cities in Sweden: The role of siblings and parents.

Living in cities affects young adults' access to education and work. With the use of register data for 2000-2013, we examined the role of having siblings and parents living close by and having siblings and parents living in the area of origin, in young adults' return migration from the four largest cities in Sweden. We found that young adults were less likely to return, and also less likely to migrate elsewhere, if they had siblings or parents living in the city of residence than if this was not the case. If the parents no longer lived in the region of origin, the young adults were very unlikely to return. Young adults were more likely to return if they had siblings living in that region than if they had no siblings or the siblings lived elsewhere. Adverse circumstances such as dropping out of tertiary education, low income, and unemployment were associated with a greater likelihood of return migration.

Differences in the health transition patterns of migrants and non-migrants aged 50 and older in southern and western Europe (2004-2015).

BACKGROUND: Most previous research on migrant health in Europe has taken a cross-sectional perspective, without a specific focus on the older population. Having knowledge about inequalities in health transitions over the life course between migrants and non-migrants, including at older ages, is crucial for the tailoring of policies to the demands of an ageing and culturally diverse society. We analyse differences in health transitions between migrants and non-migrants, specifically focusing on the older population in Europe. METHODS: We used longitudinal data on migrants and non-migrants aged 50 and older in 10 southern and western European countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015). We applied multinomial logistic regression models of experiencing health deterioration among individuals in good health at baseline, and of experiencing health improvement among individuals in poor health at baseline, separately by sex, in which migrant status (non-migrant, western migrant, non-western migrant) was the main explanatory variable. We considered three dimensions of health, namely self-rated health, depression and diabetes. RESULTS: At older ages, migrants in Europe were at higher risk than non-migrants of experiencing a deterioration in health relative to remaining in a given state of self-rated health. Western migrants had a higher risk than non-migrants of becoming depressed, while non-western migrants had a higher risk of acquiring diabetes. Among females only, migrants also tended to be at lower risk than non-migrants of experiencing an improvement in both overall and mental health. Differences in the health transition patterns of older migrants and non-migrants remained robust to the inclusion of several covariates, including education, job status and health-related behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that, in addition to having a health disadvantage at baseline, older migrants in Europe were more likely than older non-migrants to have experienced a deterioration in health over the study period. These results raise concerns about whether migrants in Europe are as likely as non-migrants to age in good health. We recommend that policies aiming to promote healthy ageing specifically address the health needs of the migrant population, thereby distinguishing migrants from different backgrounds.

Geographical Distances Between Separated Parents: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Using detailed geocoded microdata from the British Household Panel Survey and longitudinal random-effects models, we analyse the determinants and trajectories of geographical distances between separated parents. Findings of particular note include the following: (1) post-separation linked lives, proximities and spatial constraints are characterised by important gender asymmetries; (2) the formation of new post-separation family ties (i.e. new partners and children) by fathers is linked to moves over longer distances away from the ex-partner than for mothers; (3) the distribution of pre-separation childcare responsibilities is relevant for determining post-separation proximity between parents; and (4) most variation in the distance between ex-partners occurs in the immediate period following separation (approximately the first year), suggesting that the initial conditions around separation can have long-lasting implications for the types of family life, ties and contact experienced in the years after separation.

Erratum to: Geographical Distances Between Separated Parents: A Longitudinal Analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s10680-017-9437-1.].

Local Ties as Self-Reported Constraints to Internal Migration in Spain.

The internal migration literature has identified various factors that deter migration and encourage staying, but has been less concerned with people's own reports about what makes it difficult for them to migrate or makes them want to stay. We explore factors that make it difficult to change the place of residence-from here on denoted as constraints-reported in the Spanish survey on Attitudes and Expectations of Spatial Mobility in the Labour Force (N = 3892). These constraints were uniquely asked from all respondents through an open-ended question, regardless of their migration intentions. We find that many self-reported constraints correspond to factors that have previously been associated with decreased migration propensities. In order of frequency, respondents reported ties to family and friends, ties to their residential environment, financial limitations, and ties to work as constraints to migration. Our results further show that the likelihood of mentioning ties to family and friends as constraints decreased with age, was higher for women than for men and for people who lived close to most of their social network than for those who did not. Mentioning ties to the residential environment as constraints was positively associated with being partnered, and also with living in one's birthplace. People who were unemployed were less likely to mention ties to work and were more likely to report financial limitations as constraints than people who had a permanent contract-whereas being self-employed was positively associated with mentioning ties to the residential environment.

The Transition to a Coresidential Partnership: Who Moves and Who Has the Partner Move In?

Moving into a joint household is an important step in the process of union formation. While a growing body of literature investigates differences between those couples who start coresidence and those who do not, we know little about the likelihood of moving upon the start of coresidence. The aim of this paper is to investigate how individual and couple-level characteristics are associated with moving, or having a partner move in, at the start of coresidence. We use data from 10 waves of the German Family Panel pairfam for those who started coresidence (n = 983) and estimate logistic regression models of moving versus having a partner move in. The respondents in the sample are quite young with a mean age of 27. For long-distance relationships, those with a higher level of education than their partner and women who were living in close proximity to their parents were less likely to move. In short-distance relationships, respondents living in the parental home or in crowded housing were more likely to move than those living in uncrowded housing. In contrast with previous research, we did not find that women were more likely to move than men. Our results highlight that factors like educational resources, housing demands, and local family ties have differential effects on moving decisions at the start of coresidence depending on the distance moved.

Family Complexity and Parents' Migration: The Role of Repartnering and Distance to Non-Resident Children.

Recent research suggests that the increasing complexity of family life could be a factor in declines in internal migration (long-distance moves within countries). As many separated parents continue to share childcare responsibilities or have visiting arrangements, their mobility is naturally constrained. However, the relationship between family complexity and individual migration behaviour has never been studied explicitly. We compare separated parents with parents in two-parent families in their likelihood of migrating within the Netherlands. We use detailed records of parents' partnership status and children's residential situation. An event-history analysis was performed using register-based population data (N = 442,412). We find that separated, single parents are more likely to migrate than those in two-parent families. The same is true for repartnered mothers, while repartnered fathers are about as likely to migrate as fathers in two-parent families. Separated parents' migration behaviour depends on where their children live. Having non-resident children who live some distance away is associated with a much higher likelihood of migrating than having resident children or non-resident children who live nearby. Having both resident and non-resident children who live nearby-shared residence (i.e. joint physical custody) is likely common in this situation-is associated with a considerably lower likelihood of migrating than having resident children only. Based on our findings, one would expect family complexities stemming from parental separation to be associated with higher rather than lower levels of migration. However, potential future increases in the number of parents who share physical custody after separation might lead to lower migration levels.

Separation and Elevated Residential Mobility: A Cross-Country Comparison.

This study investigates the magnitude and persistence of elevated post-separation residential mobility (i.e. residential instability) in five countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK) with similar levels of economic development, but different welfare provisions and housing markets. While many studies examine residential changes related to separation in selected individual countries, only very few have compared patterns across countries. Using longitudinal data and applying Poisson regression models, we study the risk of a move of separated men and women compared with cohabiting and married individuals. We use time since separation to distinguish between moves due to separation and moves of separated individuals. Our analysis shows that separated men and women are significantly more likely to move than cohabiting and married individuals. The risk of a residential change is the highest shortly after separation, and it decreases with duration since separation. However, the magnitude of this decline varies by country. In Belgium, mobility rates remain elevated for a long period after separation, whereas in the Netherlands, post-separation residential instability appears brief, with mobility rates declining rapidly. The results suggest that housing markets are likely to shape the residential mobility of separated individuals. In countries, where mortgages are easy to access and affordable rental properties are widespread, separated individuals can rapidly adjust their housing to new family circumstances; in contrast, in countries with limited access to homeownership and small social rental markets, separated individuals experience a prolonged period of residential instability.

Geographic Proximity to Parents, Intergenerational Support Exchange, and Migration Within Germany.

Previous research on internal migration has emphasised the importance of local ties to family members outside the household, and to parents in particular. Family members who live close to an individual's place of residence represent a form of local social capital that could make migrating costlier, and therefore less likely. This idea has been empirically supported. Yet, how family ties bind remains largely unexplained. We assume that intergenerational support is a manifestation of local social capital, and that spatial proximity is needed for support to be exchanged. Thus, we used mediation analysis that includes explicit measures of support exchanges between parents and their adult-children born in 1971-1973, 1981-1983, and 1991-1993 to explain the binding effect of living close to parents. Logistic regression models of migrating a distance of more than 40 km were conducted using eight waves of the German pairfam data. Living close to one's parents was indeed found to be negatively associated with the likelihood of migration, and part of this association could be explained through intergenerational support: the more the instrumental support an adult child exchanged with her/his parent, the less likely she/he was to migrate. Receiving emotional support from the parents was associated with an increase in migration propensity. Neither giving emotional help nor receiving help with childcare functioned as mediators. It thus appears that adult children are particularly likely to value the proximity of their parents when they are exchanging instrumental support, but that the emotional bond between adult children and their parents can often be maintained over longer distances.

Understanding the effects of Covid-19 through a life course lens.

The Covid-19 pandemic is shaking fundamental assumptions about the human life course in societies around the world. In this essay, we draw on our collective expertise to illustrate how a life course perspective can make critical contributions to understanding the pandemic's effects on individuals, families, and populations. We explore the pandemic's implications for the organization and experience of life transitions and trajectories within and across central domains: health, personal control and planning, social relationships and family, education, work and careers, and migration and mobility. We consider both the life course implications of being infected by the Covid-19 virus or attached to someone who has; and being affected by the pandemic's social, economic, cultural, and psychological consequences. It is our goal to offer some programmatic observations on which life course research and policies can build as the pandemic's short- and long-term consequences unfold.

Migration Versus Immobility, and Ties to Parents.

We investigate the association between geographic proximity to parents and the likelihood of moving longer distances (e.g. at least 40 km), using British panel data from the Understanding Society study and probit regression. We also look at the extent to which this association diminishes by introducing measures of frequency of contact, interaction with neighbors and length of residence. Using a number of different models and samples, we find that living far from parents increases longer distance mobility. Seeing parents weekly and more interactions with neighbors reduce longer distance mobility, but its association with parental proximity remains substantial. The positive effect of living far from parents on the likelihood of moving longer distances is also found in subsamples of those who have lived in their current residence for 5 years or less and of the highly educated, while the negative effect of seeing parents weekly is also found in these subsamples as well as in a subsample of those living close to parents. Even though endogeneity cannot be ruled out completely, these findings show a robust association between family ties and the likelihood of moving a long distance.

Health and Its Relationship with Residential Relocations of Older People to Institutions versus to Independent Dwellings.

Research into older people's relocations to independent dwellings has largely remained separate from research into moves to institutions. Yet, both types of moves could be a response to health problems and to a certain extent they could be substitutes for each other. Using Litwak and Longino's model of moves of older people, this study assesses the extent to which three commonly used health measures (limitations in activities of daily living [ADL], self-rated health, and the prevalence of [limiting] chronic conditions) predict older people's moves to subsidized care institutions and elsewhere, in one multinomial logistic regression model. The data were derived from the POLS survey for the Netherlands (N = 8306) enriched with administrative data on subsequent moves. In line with Litwak and Longino's model, the findings indicate that older people's moves to institutions were more likely among those with more severe health problems, whereas moves elsewhere were more likely among those with moderate health problems. Among the three investigated health measures, limitations in ADL had the strongest predictive value, and was the only one for which the difference in effect between relocations to care institutions and relocations elsewhere was statistically significant.

The Association Between Parents' and Adult Children's Homeownership: A Comparative Analysis.

We investigate the extent to which the intergenerational transmission of homeownership varies across European countries. Our main hypotheses are that the impact of parental homeownership on the likelihood and timing of an adult child's entry into homeownership is less strong in contexts where homeownership is more accessible (in terms of affordability and access to mortgage credit), where renting is a feasible alternative to owning, and where the family matters less for the provision of welfare and housing. We perform discrete-time event history analyses of the transition to first-time homeownership using retrospective SHARELIFE-data from 10 European countries. Our respondents were born between 1908 and 1963, while observed entries to first-time homeownership occur between 1965 and 2009. We introduce fixed effects for countries and macro-level indicators for country-period combinations, interacted with parental homeownership. We find that the intergenerational transmission of homeownership is stronger in contexts where house prices are higher (and homeownership is less affordable), and less strong in more affluent contexts and in contexts where homeownership has increased more. The remaining differences in intergenerational transmission cannot be attributed to differences in welfare regimes or between dual and unitary rental markets.

Geographic proximity of adult children and the well-being of older persons.

This article aims to contribute to the discussion of how adult children affect the well-being of their older parents by investigating the importance of living in close geographic proximity. We investigate whether having children at all, and/or having them geographically proximate, contributes differently to the well-being of older persons living with and without a partner. We enriched survey data for the Netherlands (N = 8,379) with municipal register data and regressed life satisfaction of persons aged 65+ on having children and three different measures of geographic proximity. Having children contributes to the well-being of older men with a partner. There is evidence for a positive association between proximity of children and parental well-being, in particular for widowed and separated mothers and for separated fathers. Our findings suggest that close proximity may be a condition under which adult children can significantly add to the well-being of widowed and separated mothers and separated fathers.

Ethnic differences in leaving home: timing and pathways.

The dynamics of leaving home for youth from migrant families in the Netherlands are examined using individual administrative data on the 1977 and 1983 birth cohorts for the period 1999-2004. A competing-risks approach is applied to distinguish leaving home for union formation, to live independently, and to share with others. Migrant youth, and particularly Turkish and Moroccan youth, leave home at a significantly younger age than Dutch youth, given the relevant background variables. This is remarkable, given the older ages at which young people in the origin countries leave the parental home. The result may be seen as evidence of how the potential effects of cultural norms are counter-affected by other factors, such as the facilities of the welfare state and the awkward position of migrant youth between two cultures. Considering the pathways out of home, the analysis largely confirms the expected pattern: Turkish and Moroccan youth leave home more often for union formation and particularly marriage, while this pathway is of minor importance for Dutch youth at early ages.