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Wishful Thinking and the Abandonment of Moving Desires over the Life Course

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  • Rory Coulter

    (Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, England)

Abstract

Many longitudinal analyses of residential mobility decision making use two or three waves of panel survey data to investigate who fulfils their moving desires. Few studies have, however, focused upon individuals who desire to move but who remain residentially immobile, either because it takes them a long time to relocate or because they abandon their moving desire. This is problematic, as undesired residential immobility could have negative consequences for individual well-being and prosperity. To address this research gap, this study uses 1991–2008 British Household Panel Survey data to analyse the duration and abandonment of moving desires. Importantly, the results show that the risk of abandoning a desire to move rises dramatically with age, suggesting that the well-documented residential rootedness of older people is not solely volitional. Event-history analysis shows that these patterns are partly due to changing levels of ties and commitments over the life course. By demonstrating that ethnicity and income are also linked to the fulfilment of moving desires, the findings contribute to our understanding of the processes producing both social inequality and neighbourhood stratification.

Suggested Citation

  • Rory Coulter, 2013. "Wishful Thinking and the Abandonment of Moving Desires over the Life Course," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(8), pages 1944-1962, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:8:p:1944-1962
    DOI: 10.1068/a45314
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. William A. V. Clark & William Lisowski, 2017. "Decisions to move and decisions to stay: life course events and mobility outcomes," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(5), pages 547-565, July.
    3. Wen Jiang & Tao Feng & Harry JP Timmermans, 2020. "Non-linear asymmetric gap models of residential satisfaction: Formulation and empirical evidence," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(4), pages 569-589, May.
    4. Beata Nowok & Allan Findlay & David McCollum, 2018. "Linking residential relocation desires and behaviour with life domain satisfaction," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 870-890, March.
    5. Kaufmann, Marc & Machado, Joël & Verheyden, Bertrand, 2021. "Why Do Migrants Stay Unexpectedly? Misperceptions and Implications for Integration," IZA Discussion Papers 14155, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Júlia Mikolai & Hill Kulu, 2018. "Divorce, Separation, and Housing Changes: A Multiprocess Analysis of Longitudinal Data from England and Wales," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 83-106, February.
    7. Sander van Lanen, 2021. "Imagining a future in the austerity city: Anticipated futures and the formation of neoliberal subjectivities of youth in Ireland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(8), pages 2033-2049, November.

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