IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v41y2014i3p529-542.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing demographics and young adult driver license decline in Melbourne, Australia (1994–2009)

Author

Listed:
  • Alexa Delbosc
  • Graham Currie

Abstract

In the last decade young people in North America, Australia and much of Europe are becoming less likely to hold a driver’s license and, if they can drive, they are driving less. This is a remarkable trend which is not yet well understood. This paper is an empirical analysis exploring the relationship between young adult driver licensing and young adult demographics and living arrangements. In many developed countries, young adults are becoming increasingly less likely to be in full-time work, more likely to be in part-time work or studying, more likely to be living at home with parents and they are getting married and having children later in life. Against the background of these trends, a binary logistic regression model of travel survey data (1994–2009) for Melbourne, Australia is used to explore the association between these demographics and young adult license-holding. The model established that full-time employment and child-rearing are associated with higher young adult licensing rates whereas part-time work and studying were associated with lower licensing rates. However the impact of living at home with parents was not clear and requires further study. Together it is theorised that these changes in living arrangements may be restricting the disposable income of some young adults and reducing or postponing license take-up. The paper concludes with the implications of findings for policy and opportunities for future research. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Alexa Delbosc & Graham Currie, 2014. "Changing demographics and young adult driver license decline in Melbourne, Australia (1994–2009)," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 529-542, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:41:y:2014:i:3:p:529-542
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-013-9496-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11116-013-9496-z
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-013-9496-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tobias Kuhnimhof & Jimmy Armoogum & Ralph Buehler & Joyce Dargay & Jon Martin Denstadli & Toshiyuki Yamamoto, 2012. "Men Shape a Downward Trend in Car Use among Young Adults—Evidence from Six Industrialized Countries," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 761-779, September.
    2. Mintesnot Woldeamanuel & Rita Cyganski & Angelika Schulz & Andreas Justen, 2009. "Variation of households ’ car ownership across time: application of a panel data model," Transportation, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 371-387, July.
    3. Idlir Licaj & Mohamed Mouloud Haddak & Pascal Pochet & Mireille Chiron, 2012. "Individual and contextual socioeconomic disadvantages and car driving between 16 and 24 years of age: a multilevel study in the Rhône Département (France)," Post-Print halshs-00657323, HAL.
    4. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," IZA Discussion Papers 3309, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 41(2), pages 160-176, June.
    6. Joachim Scheiner & Christian Holz-Rau, 2007. "Travel mode choice: affected by objective or subjective determinants?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 487-511, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Picasso, Emilio & Postorino, Maria Nadia & Bonoli-Escobar, Mariano & Stewart-Harris, Maria, 2020. "Car-sharing vs bike-sharing: A choice experiment to understand young people behaviour," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 121-128.
    2. Melia, Steve & Chatterjee, Kiron & Stokes, Gordon, 2018. "Is the urbanisation of young adults reducing their driving?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 444-456.
    3. Alexa Delbosc, 2017. "Delay or forgo? A closer look at youth driver licensing trends in the United States and Australia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 919-926, September.
    4. Rico Krueger & Taha H. Rashidi & Akshay Vij, 2020. "X vs. Y: an analysis of intergenerational differences in transport mode use among young adults," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 2203-2231, October.
    5. Habib, Khandker Nurul & Weiss, Adam & Hasnine, Sami, 2018. "On the heterogeneity and substitution patterns in mobility tool ownership choices of post-secondary students: The case of Toronto," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 650-665.
    6. Thigpen, Calvin & Handy, Susan, 2018. "Driver's licensing delay: A retrospective case study of the impact of attitudes, parental and social influences, and intergenerational differences," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 24-40.
    7. Zhang, Yixue & Zhao, Pengjun & Lin, Jen-Jia, 2021. "Exploring shopping travel behavior of millennials in Beijing: Impacts of built environment, life stages, and subjective preferences," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 49-60.
    8. Hjorthol, Randi, 2016. "Decreasing popularity of the car? Changes in driving licence and access to a car among young adults over a 25-year period in Norway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 140-146.
    9. Devajyoti Deka, 2017. "Benchmarking gentrification near commuter rail stations in New Jersey," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(13), pages 2955-2972, October.
    10. Nadine Gatzert & Katrin Osterrieder, 2020. "The future of mobility and its impact on the automobile insurance industry," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 31-51, March.
    11. Oakil, Abu Toasin Md & Manting, Dorien & Nijland, Hans, 2016. "Determinants of car ownership among young households in the Netherlands: The role of urbanisation and demographic and economic characteristics," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 229-235.
    12. Kailai Wang, 2023. "Are Generation Z Less Car-centric Than Millennials? A Nationwide Analysis Through the Lens of Youth Licensing," Papers 2310.04906, arXiv.org.
    13. Delbosc, Alexa & Nakanishi, Hitomi, 2017. "A life course perspective on the travel of Australian millennials," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 319-336.
    14. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Shatu, Farjana & Habib, Khandker Nurul, 2020. "Travel behaviour in Brisbane: Trends, saturation, patterns and changes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 231-250.
    15. Krueger, Rico & Rashidi, Taha H. & Vij, Akshay, 2018. "X vs. Y: An Analysis of Intergenerational Differences in Transport Mode Use Among Young Adults," SocArXiv unezy, Center for Open Science.
    16. Delbosc, Alexa & Naznin, Farhana, 2019. "Future life course and mobility: A latent class analysis of young adults in Victoria, Australia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 104-116.
    17. Nurul Habib, Khandker, 2018. "Modelling the choice and timing of acquiring a driver’s license: Revelations from a hazard model applied to the University students in Toronto," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 374-386.
    18. Muromachi, Yasunori, 2017. "Experiences of past school travel modes by university students and their intention of future car purchase," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 209-220.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard Grimal, 2018. "Are The Millenials Less Car-Oriented ? Literature Review And Empirical Findings," Post-Print hal-02164941, HAL.
    2. Delbosc, Alexa, 2013. "Household composition and within-household car saturation in Melbourne," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 94-100.
    3. Flake, Regina, 2012. "Multigenerational Living Arrangements among Migrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 366, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Stuart J. Watson & Bonnie L. Barber, 2017. "University Attendance Moderates the Link between Financial Norms and Healthy Financial Behavior for Australian Young Adults," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 238-248, June.
    5. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Tue Gørgens, 2014. "Parents’ economic support of young-adult children: do socioeconomic circumstances matter?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 447-471, April.
    6. Andrew Beer & Debbie Faulkner, 2014. "How to use primary and secondary data," Chapters, in: Robert Stimson (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Spatially Integrated Social Science, chapter 11, pages 192-209, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Louis N. Christofides & Michael Hoy & Ling Yang, 2008. "The Gender Imbalance in Participation in Canadian Universities (1977-2005)," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 5-2008, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    8. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & David C. Ribar, 2009. "Financial Stress, Family Conflict, and Youths’ Successful Transition to Adult Roles," CEPR Discussion Papers 627, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    9. David Byrne & David Duffy & John FitzGerald, 2018. "Household Formation and Tenure Choice: Did the Great Irish Housing Bust Alter Consumer Behaviour?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(3), pages 287-317.
    10. Christofides, Louis N. & Hoy, Michael & Yang, Ling, 2010. "Participation in Canadian Universities: The gender imbalance (1977-2005)," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 400-410, June.
    11. repec:zbw:rwirep:0366 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. David C. Ribar, 2015. "Is Leaving Home a Hardship?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(3), pages 598-618, January.
    13. Lyn Craig & Abigail Powell & Judith Brown, 2015. "Co-resident Parents and Young People Aged 15–34: Who Does What Housework?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(2), pages 569-588, April.
    14. Somayeh Parvazian & Ronnie Semo, 2018. "The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth: 20 Years and Beyond," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(3), pages 426-440, September.
    15. Viviana Amati & Giulia Rivellini & Susanna Zaccarin, 2015. "Potential and Effective Support Networks of Young Italian Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 807-831, July.
    16. Regina Flake, 2012. "Multigenerational Living Arrangements among Migrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 0366, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    17. Nurul Habib, Khandker, 2018. "Modelling the choice and timing of acquiring a driver’s license: Revelations from a hazard model applied to the University students in Toronto," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 374-386.
    18. Deborah Cobb-Clark & David Ribar, 2012. "Financial stress, family relationships, and Australian youths’ transitions from home and school," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 469-490, December.
    19. Zhao, Pengjun & Bai, Yu, 2019. "The gap between and determinants of growth in car ownership in urban and rural areas of China: A longitudinal data case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Phil Goodwin & Kurt Van Dender, 2013. "'Peak Car' - Themes and Issues," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 243-254, May.
    21. Scheiner, Joachim & Holz-Rau, Christian, 2013. "A comprehensive study of life course, cohort, and period effects on changes in travel mode use," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 167-181.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:41:y:2014:i:3:p:529-542. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.