Radboud University (RU), Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Mobility, both within and across borders, is part and parcel of modern life. Mobility means adjusting to new environments and forming bonds with persons (both within and outside households) who are also mobile and may leave soon. Thus, social networks are becoming increasing fluid, which may have an effect in two directions. For some, the ever-expanding geographical network may provide the social capital (sometimes dubbed ‘spatial capital’) needed for career success. For others, the crumbling of traditionally stable systems of support by kin, friends and neighbours may add to their troubles, such as poverty and loneliness.

Understanding the interplay between geographic mobility and long-term well-being is a relatively new field. To begin with, typologies of residential careers will have to be developed. The project is particularly interested in the residential careers of vulnerable groups. To what extent did the trajectories of the single, the poor, the widowed and the foreign immigrants differ from the ‘normal’ patterns? How did this affect their integration in local networks, and can we relate these patterns to later life outcomes? One of the topics to be explored is the impact of immersion in kinship networks. Some of the databases involved in the Network allow for the simultaneous study of individual life courses and the extended family network. The question will be whether the movements of ‘vulnerable’ people were circumscribed or channelled by their extended network (because they needed kin protection).

Empirically, the ESR will develop ways to extract migration and household trajectories from micro-data sets. Conceptually, the ESR will develop a comparative set of definitions and typologies that can be used to analyse migration trajectories and sequences of households over the life course. This presupposes the ability to think in terms of processes. Analytically, the ESR will develop skills to convert data from the different datasets on addresses and households to files ready for statistical processing.

The project deliverables are reports on concepts and algorithms, to be integrated in a more substantive dissertation on the integration of individual residential histories in the study of vulnerability and well-being.

LONGPOP EXPECTED RESULTS:

4.1. Concepts and definitions. A working paper about a critical literature review on migration trajectories and health based on historical and contemporary studies.
4.2. Algorithms. Creation of a residential episode file from IDS-HSN.
4.3. Research design. A PhD research design, personal development plan.
4.4. Statistical tool. A tool to explore this mobility statistically.
4.5. GIS mobility tool. A tool to visualize trajectories and extended kin networks, using GIS.
4.6. Analytical tool. A tool to explore the links between migration trajectories and later-life outcomes in terms of social status and well-being.
4.7. Research report. Report on the role of residential mobility patterns in the life courses of vulnerable people in at least two countries.

See working papers, presentations and publications for more information about these results.