Modelling the relationships between household residential mobility and childbearing over the life course in Australia

Haynes, M. and Martinez, A. Modelling the relationships between household residential mobility and childbearing over the life course in Australia.

Abstract

This study advances the understanding of the housing-fertility relationship in Australia by examining whether childbearing is associated with residential mobility. We also investigate spatial polarisation by classifying moves into either disadvantaged or advantaged neighbourhoods. Furthermore, the statistical tool used departs from the conventional modelling approach in the residential mobility literature by accounting for the unobserved intra-household bargaining process that transpires when household members make a decision to relocate. Results suggest that couple households are significantly more likely to move residence with pregnancy and birth of a child but are less likely to move as children become older. In contrast, single parents are less likely to move residence with pregnancy and birth. Couples expecting or following the birth of a child are significantly more likely to move into non-disadvantaged neighbourhood, while single parent households are less likely to move into a non-disadvantaged neighbourhood. We also find empirical evidence that the decision to move by an individual when he/she is single is likely to be differentially influenced by a partner when they are subsequently living in a couple household. The results were derived from multilevel models estimated using longitudinal data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey collected annually from 2001 to 2010.