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Life course events and residential change: unpacking age effects on the probability of moving

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Abstract

We know that life course events, especially divorce and separation, trigger residential moves, but we know less about how these and other life course events intersect with how far people move and the relationship with labour market change. This research uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Survey in Australia to model a set of life course events and their intersection with the distance of move. I examine essentially positive events, marriage and new births and not so positive events, separation and divorce, and the unexpected events of widowhood and job loss, and their outcomes in the housing market. For the decision to move, the models partly parallel other studies of life course events and their role in the mobility decision, but the results provide enriched results about how age and life course events intersect. The analysis shows in greater detail how age acts as a proxy for complicated life course intersections with moving. The disruption of divorce and separation, as expected, increases the probability of moving but with different effects over distance. Households move in response to these life events but they are much less likely to change metropolitan locations, which reflects the embedded nature of family change and location. Overall, the research enriches previous studies of age-related links to migration and mobility.

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Notes

  1. In some models age is negative reflecting the overall decline in mobility with age, but using both age and age squared seems to capture the increase in mobility initially and the later decline.

  2. Income and ownership are positively associated.

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Acknowledgments

This paper uses unit record data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The HILDA Project was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and is managed by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research (Melbourne Institute). The findings and views reported in this paper, however, are those of the author and should not be attributed to either FaHCSIA or the Melbourne Institute. I also thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for comments and suggestions that improved the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    William A. V. Clark

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  1. William A. V. Clark
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Correspondence to William A. V. Clark.

Appendix: Variables in the analysis of mobility

Appendix: Variables in the analysis of mobility

Dependent variables in the models

  • Moved between waves (dummy 1 yes)

  • Distance moved between waves

  • Moved <30 km/more than 30 km between waves

  • Moved between metropolitan areas (five major cities)

Explanatory variables

  • Age (years)

  • Age squared

  • Child (child in the house before move)

  • Marital status in wave before move

  • Marital status change

    • Became separated

    • Became divorced

    • Became married

    • Became widowed

  • Birth (new baby between waves)

  • Tenure

    • Own before move

    • Rent before move

  • Household income in wave before move

  • Occupation (professional)

  • Education (university plus)

  • Employed (in the workforce)

  • Job loss (being fired, made redundant)

Note: Specific definitions are in the HILDA survey at www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda).

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Clark, W.A.V. Life course events and residential change: unpacking age effects on the probability of moving. J Pop Research 30, 319–334 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-013-9116-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-013-9116-y

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