Moving after Separation: The Role of Location-specific Capital

Abstract

This paper addresses the role of location-specific capital-the ties that bind people to a place-in which ex-partners of two-sex couples move after separation or divorce. The study uses data from the first and second waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N ¼ 361) to test hypotheses on the impact of individual homeownership, prior residential history, and the nearby presence of parents on whether a separated person moves. Who owned the home and whether someone's expartner moved in upon partnership formation are of prime importance to whether a separated person moves. Furthermore, separated persons whose parents live nearby and those who have a long history of living in the same municipality have a smaller probability of moving than other separated persons.

Life events and moves under duress: disruption in the life course and mobility outcomes

“…In these studies, as I have reported elsewhere, different research groups have shown how childbirth (Clark, Deurloo & Dieleman, 1994), divorce (Dieleman & Schouw, 1989;Dewilde, 2008;Mulder & Wagner, 2012), and marriage (Odland & Shumway, 1993;Mulder & Wagner, 1993) influence the likelihood of a move. Migration (a longer distance move) or mobility within the city are then adjustment processes which allow individuals and families to bring their locations in line with their perceived needs for specific locations and quantities of housing in response to the change created by the specific event.…”

Family dynamics and housing

“…Ownership of the home also creates ties. In cases where only one expartner owned the home, it is almost exclusively that ex-partner who stays in the home and the other who moves out (Feijten and Mulder 2010;Mulder and Wagner 2012). The situation is more complicated when the partners jointly own the home.…”

“…Having lived in the home before the start of the partnership arguably results in stronger ties to the home than having moved in with the partner. Evidence indeed suggests that having had the partner move into one's home decreases the likelihood of moving out (Mulder and Wagner 2012). Ownership of the home also creates ties.…”

“…The move associated with the separation has immediate housing consequences for both expartners. Just to illustrate, in the survey Divorce in the Netherlands, approximately 30% of divorced people who left the home reported that they thought the housing outcome of the divorce was to their disadvantage, whereas this was true of only 7% of those who stayed (Mulder and Wagner 2012). It is therefore relevant to ask the question of which ex-partner moves out and which ex-partner stays, and under what circumstances.…”

Divorce, Separation, and Housing Changes: A Multiprocess Analysis of Longitudinal Data from England and Wales

“…The first stream of studies has found that ex-partners who have custody of children (Gram-Hanssen and Bech-Danielsen 2008;Mulder and Wagner 2010), who are older (Mulder and Wagner 2010;, and those whose family members live nearby (Mulder and Malmberg 2011;Mulder and Wagner 2012) are less likely to move out of the joint home upon separation. Additionally, using data from the Netherlands, showed that the woman was more likely to move out if the home was owner-occupied.…”