Towards a typology of childhood internal mobility: Do children of migrants and non-migrants differ?

Joeke Kuyvenhoven*, Marjolijn Das, Helga A.G. de Valk

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
96 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Moving during childhood is an important life event that is often stressful and potentially disruptive. With the majority of existing studies on childhood internal mobility using a one-dimensional measure of mobility and focusing on the total population, there is still limited knowledge on differential childhood mobility patterns for children of different migrant origins. In this study, we acknowledge the multidimensional nature of mobility by covering frequency, timing, distance, and change in place type to understand internal mobility patterns for children aged 0–16 without and with different second-generation migrant backgrounds. Internal mobility is analysed for children born in the Netherlands between 1995 and 2003 using longitudinal full population register data. K-means cluster analysis reveals five types of mobility: nearby preschool-aged, nearby school-aged, long-distance to more densely populated areas, long-distance to less densely populated areas, and frequent movers. Results of multinomial logistic regressions show that having a second-generation migrant background increases the likelihood of being in any of the mobility clusters and reveals variation in types of mobility patterns for different migrant origin groups. We conclude that childhood mobility patterns are diverse and overall more often experienced by children of second-generation migrant origin potentially adding to a more vulnerable situation and inequality over the life course.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2515
JournalPopulation, Space and Place
Volume28
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study is part of the MyMove project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 819298, PI: Helga A.G. de Valk). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable feedback on our work. Previous versions of the paper were presented at the Dutch Demography Week 2020, the Population Association of America (PAA) 2021 Annual Meeting, and the 18th IMISCOE Annual Conference 2021.

Funding Information:
This study is part of the MyMove project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 819298, PI: Helga A.G. de Valk). We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable feedback on our work. Previous versions of the paper were presented at the Dutch Demography Week 2020, the Population Association of America (PAA) 2021 Annual Meeting, and the 18th IMISCOE Annual Conference 2021.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Population, Space and Place published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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