Separation and Elevated Residential Mobility: A Cross-Country Comparison

Residential Mobility in Childhood and Union Dissolution Later in Life

The limited existing literature studying the effects of childhood residential mobility suggests that it influences a range of life outcomes, at least in young adulthood. Little is known about how the frequency of moving in childhood is related to later-life demographic behaviour in Europe. Drawing on residential and partnership histories from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper examines whether moving in childhood relates to union dissolution in adulthood. It empirically addresses two theoretical explanations underlying the potential association: First, according to the confounding hypothesis, effects of childhood residential mobility differ by family background and resources. Second, the family stress model suggests that the accumulated stress and conflicts associated with frequent residential mobility disrupt the family and child's social ties, resulting in worse relationship skills in later life (mediation hypothesis). Applying discrete-time event history analysis to individuals born between 1945 and 1965 in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, we find a significant association between childhood moves (prior to age 17) and adult union dissolution. The effect's strength varies based on the number of childhood moves, demonstrating a clear gradient. Notably, adults with three or more childhood moves exhibit a 55% higher likelihood of union dissolution compared to non-movers. These associations persist even after accounting for childhood background factors, while family stress mediates the link partially. Our findings shed light on the role of spatial mobility in shaping demographic outcomes and underscore its potential contribution to the accumulation and reproduction of life disadvantages.

Does Re-Partnering Behavior Spread Among Former Spouses?

This study focused on individuals' re-partnering behavior following a divorce and asked whether divorcees influence each other's new union formation. By exploiting the System of Social statistical Datasets (SSD) of Statistics Netherlands, I identified divorced dyads and examined interdependencies in their re-partnering behavior. Discrete-time event history models accounting for shared characteristics of divorcees that are likely to influence their divorce and re-partnering behavior simultaneously were estimated. Findings showed that the probability of re-partnering increased within the first two years following a former spouse's new union formation. Further analyses focusing on formerly cohabiting couples rather than divorcees also revealed significant associations in re-partnering behavior. Following a former romantic partner's new union formation, women were exposed to risk longer than men, due to men's quicker re-partnering. These results were robust to the falsification tests. Overall, findings indicate that the consequences of a divorce or breakup are not limited to the incidence itself and former romantic partners remain important in each other's life courses even after a breakup. With the increasing number of divorcees and changing family structures, it is important to consider former spouses as active network partners that may influence individual life courses.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10680-021-09589-x.

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.

Are the Sick Left Behind at the Peripheries? Health Selection in Migration to Growing Urban Centres in Finland

We study health selection in rural–urban migration in Finland using register data. Specifically, we ask whether ‘movers’ differ from ‘stayers’ in their use of special health care services prior to moving. We focus on migration to twelve growing urban centres in different sub-groups of the population as well as in different regions, using multinomial logistic regression and multilevel modelling and by distinguishing between short- and long-distance moves. The results show that urban centres attract healthier individuals, while people with health problems are also prone to move, but not to urban centres. The results were similar when looking only at psychiatric diagnoses. The findings suggest that it is important to distinguish between different types of moves when studying health-selective migration. Studying the patterns of migration according to health enables us to understand drivers of regional health differences. Moreover, such evidence will help in projecting future demand for healthcare across the country.