Household diversity and migration in mid‐life: understanding residential mobility among 45–64 year olds in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

This paper focuses on the residential mobility of middle‐aged persons, not yet retired, an understudied cohort in mobility research. From the 1950s to the 1980s, mobility studies pointed to mid‐life as a settled stage in terms of family, work and housing. Recent demographic and social changes, however, have led to these years being typified by a wide gamut of living arrangements that have complicated decisions about, and patterns of, residential mobility. Using the life‐course perspective, this paper suggests that the transition to ‘empty nester’ status will heighten mobility among this group of middle‐aged persons relative to their counterparts in other living arrangements. The analysis uses a customised migration matrix from the Australian 2006 Census and identifies segments of 45–64 year olds most likely to have changed address since the previous census in 2001. CHAID statistical method partitioned the 45–64 year old population in Melbourne, Australia, into eight statistically significant segments based on life‐course factors and mobility levels. Younger (45–54 years) mid‐life empty‐nesters changed residence at 1.4 times the mobility rate of all mid‐life persons. For couples in this age group, empty nest status conferred a 13 percentage point ‘mobility premium’ compared with couples that still had children at home. The results contribute to a better understanding of housing consumption among mid‐life households and broader debates on access to affordable housing and processes of urban growth. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Connected Life Courses: Influences on and Experiences of ‘Midlife’ In‐Migration to Rural Areas

“…Migration at midlife, as distinct from retirement migration, is an under‐researched area of migration research (Wulff et al ., ). However, as it includes early retirees with strong retirement‐related motivations, there is undoubtedly a blurring of the midlife and retirement stages of the life course among the migrants captured in this study.…”

A Life Course Perspective on Urban–Rural Migration: the Importance of the Local Context

“…Similarly, this will also often correspond to an 'empty nest' stage, when any children will have reached adulthood and personal independence from their parents. According to Bures (2009: 846), there is an 'increased risk of long-distance mobility as the age of the youngest child at home increases', and Wulff et al (2010) calculate that empty nest status confers a 13% point mobility premium compared with couples that still have children living at home. This mid-life transition can often prompt a change of address and lead to the realisation of an aspiration for 'a place in the country' (Hardill, 2006).…”

‘The older adult’ doesn’t exist: using values to differentiate older adults in the Dutch housing market

“…Tréguer, 1998). The prevailing criticism of the age approach stresses the arbitrariness of age boundaries and the relativity of age (Gunter, 1998;Wilkes, 1992;Wulff et al, 2010). Alternatives to the age approach are lifestyle segmentation (see e.g.…”

“…Gunter & Furnman, 1992;Michelson & Reed, 1975;Pinkster & Van Kempen, 2002;Wells, 1974). Due to socialcultural and social-economic structures, the relationship between age and housing is expected to be different for successive cohorts (Hooimeijer, 2007, Wulff et al, 2010. In other words, the next generation of older adults is expected to behave differently on the housing market than what is considered to be common for the existing generation of older adults.…”