Residential Mobility, Age, and the Life Cycle

Abstract

A life cycle explanation of residential mobility is presented. It posits that age-related events in a normative context influence moving probabilities for homogeneous populations who have relatively uniform socialization. The life cycle is expressed mathematically by an a priori step function where transition points are delineated and are used jointly with an assumed underlying e*a distribution in which a = age. Curve fitting is employed to determine if the life cycle explanation is consistent at different units and levels of analysis. Results are as follows: (1) age has a consistent inverse relation to mobility, (2) age underlies a family life cycle step function explanation of mobility for a homogeneous population aggregate, and (3) family life cycle transition points likely delineate normative events that are followed by subsequent residential changes. In further research, these transition points might be used in predictive models, as time points where behavioral probabilities change for different cohorts.

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