Peteke Feijten

Who wants to leave the neighbourhood? The effect of being different from the neighbourhood population on wishes to move

Little attention has been paid to date to the role of the neighbourhood as a factor influencing residential mobility and the residential choice process. The question addressed here is to what extent neighbourhood characteristics (percentage of rented dwellings, low-income households, and ethnic minorities in the neighbourhood) influence different categories of residents to wish to leave their neighbourhood. The answer to this question can enhance our understanding of residential mobility and of the mechanisms causing segregation by income and ethnic groups. We use data from the 2002 Netherlands Housing Demand Survey, enriched with neighbourhood characteristics. Whether or not people wish to leave their neighbourhood is estimated using a multilevel logistic regression model with cross-level interaction effects between individual and neighbourhood characteristics. The main result shows that, with an increasing percentage of people from an ethnic minority in the neighbourhood, more people have the wish to leave the neighbourhood. However, this is to a lesser extent the case for members of ethnic minorities themselves.

Cohort Profile : The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS)

This article describes the establishment of the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS). The study is similar in design to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study (LS), which has been running for over 30 years and the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS), which has been established only recently. However, the SLS differs from the LS and NILS is a number of ways. Subsequently, we describe the details of the SLS, paying particularly attention to how it compares with the LS upon which is was

The impact of splitting up and divorce on housing careers in the UK

Using 1991–2004 data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) this paper analyses the effect of union dissolution on the occurrence of moves, changes of dwelling type, and the probability of moving out of owner-occupation. The main contributions of this paper are that it takes into account the rise in the occurrence of cohabitation, by analysing the dissolution of cohabiting and marital unions separately, and that it studies the effect of re-partnering on housing careers. Using logistic regression models clear evidence was found that the dissolutions of marriage and cohabitation result in different housing career outcomes. In particular, those who divorce experience a larger drop in housing quality than do those who split up from cohabitation. Starting a new relationship leads to more upward moves in the housing career compared to remaining divorced or split up.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Moving Desires, Expectations and Actual Moving Behaviour

Residential mobility theory proposes that moves are often preceded by the expression of moving desires and expectations. Much research has investigated how individuals form these premove thoughts, with a largely separate literature examining actual mobility. Although a growing number of studies link premove thoughts to subsequent moving behaviour, these often do not distinguish explicitly between different types and combinations of premove thoughts. Using 1998–2006 British Household Panel Survey data, this study investigates whether moving desires and expectations are empirically distinct premove thoughts. Using multinomial regression models we demonstrate that moving desires and expectations have different meanings, and are often held in combination: the factors associated with expecting to move differ depending upon whether the move is also desired (and vice versa). Next, using panel logistic regression models, we show that different desire–expectation combinations have different effects on the probability of subsequent moving behaviour. The study identified two important groups generally overlooked in the literature: those who expect undesired moves and those who desire to move without expecting this to happen.

Migration, occupational mobility, and regional escalators in Scotland

This paper seeks to unpick the complex relationship between an individual’s migration behaviour, their place of residence, and their occupational performance in the Scottish labour market between 1991 and 2001. We investigate whether Edinburgh has emerged as an occupational escalator region and whether individuals moving there experience more rapid upward occupational mobility than those living and moving elsewhere. Using country of birth, we also control for an individual’s propensity to make long distance moves during earlier periods of their life course. Using data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, linking 1991 and 2001 individual census records, and logistic regressions, we show that those who migrate over long distances within or to Scotland are most likely to achieve upward occupational mobility. We also found that Edinburgh is by far the most important regional escalator in Scotland; those moving to Edinburgh are the most likely to experience upward occupational mobility from low to high occupational status jobs. This is an important finding as most of the literature on escalator regions focuses on international mega cities.

Stepparenting and Mental Health

This chapter describes a study of the effects of being a stepparent or a partner of a stepparent on mental health. Using longitudinal cohort data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS), it was found that adults aged 33 living in stepfamilies have a higher risk of having poor mental health than otherwise comparable adults in ‘first families’. It was also shown that this was partly due to selection of respondents with prior mental health problems into stepfamilies. Among those who had no prior mental health problems, only adults in stepfamilies where both partners are stepparents to each others’ children had an increased risk of having poor mental health. For those with prior mental health problems, being in any type of stepfamily increased the risk of poor mental health compared to first families, suggesting that stepfamily life poses an extra burden on the already frail mental health of this group.