Life Events and the Gap between Intention to Move and Actual Mobility

Abstract

IntroductionThe mobility behaviour of individuals and households has widespread consequences for societies (Cadwallader, 1992). It has a profound influence on the demographic and socioeconomic composition of neighbourhoods and the changes therein, including processes of segregation of low-income households and immigrants or minority ethnic groups. A major issue of debate is whether such processes result from voluntary actionöwhereby people move or stay when and where they wantöor from differentiated constraints on moving ö whereby some people move freely and others remain trapped in less desirable housing or neighbourhoods. It is therefore relevant to understand why some people move without having intended to do so and others remain despite having an initial intention to change residence. Insight into the factors that hamper the execution of mobility intentions might set a direction for urban housing policy that is, at least in the Netherlands, directed at achieving a more equal distribution of lower income households over space (Bolt et al, 2008). Since Rossi's classical work Why Families Move (1955), several studies have been published concerning the discrepancy between stated intentions to move (or to stay) and subsequent mobility behaviour. They have all shown that a substantial proportion of those who initially intend to move do not change residence (Kan, 1999;Moore, 1986).

Joint Model of Residential Relocation Choice and Underlying Causal Factors

“…In terms of tenure type, previous research suggests that renters are about twice as likely to move as home owners, a reflection of the high transaction costs of getting out of a currently owned home relative to getting out of a rented unit (10). The move decision is also closely tied with the state of the housing market (for example, home mortgage rates and demand versus supply of rented units and housing units; see (11,12)).…”

Inter-regional migration in Indonesia: a micro approach

“…individuals' lives, are important in migration processes (De Groot et al 2011;Findlay et al 2015;Mulder and Hooimeijer 1999). Because migration is a result of complex events in individuals' life courses and is a part of these life courses, the life course perspective can provide a useful starting point for the explanation of inter-regional migration in Indonesia.…”

“…Regarding participation in the labour market, actual or anticipated changes in employment frequently motivate migration (DaVanzo 1978;De Groot et al 2011;Stockdale and Catney 2014). Those who are employed are less likely to migrate than those who are unemployed or not in the labour market (Basker 2003).…”

Linking residential relocation desires and behaviour with life domain satisfaction

“…The clear discrepancy between desires and behaviour of residential relocation is now well-documented in the literature (Coulter and Scott, 2015;de Groot et al, 2011;Lu, 1998Lu, , 1999. What is not evident is whether fulfilment of perceived needs and desires through changing place of residence leads to lasting improvements in people's subjective wellbeing (SWB) and also whether residential relocation can give rise to satisfaction of those who move home with no prior desire to do so.…”