Using data from 1991 Housing and Location Preferences surveys of Sydney and Melbourne this paper examines the main sociological correlates of residential mobility. The research was designed partly to test Rossi's hypo thesis about residential mobility, that people move to adjust their housing to fit changing household needs with progression through the life-cycle. The findings show that in Australia residential mobility of families is significantly related to life-cycle and the changes that accompany it. The findings are also consistent with the other demographic, social and economic patterns that characterise Australian society.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1983) Housing—VictoriaMelbourne: AGPS.
2.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1989) Housing Preferences and Intentions, Perth Statistical DivisionPerth: AGPS.
3.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1991a) Housing and Location Preferences, Adelaide Statistical DivisionAdelaide; AGPS.
4.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (1991b) Housing and Location Preferences, Australian Capital TerritoryCanberra: AGPS.
5.
Abu-Lughod, J. and M. Foley (1960) 'Consumer Strategies' in Nelson N. Foot, Janet Abu-Lughod, Mary Mix Foley and Louis Winnick (eds) Housing Choices and ConstraintsNew York: McGraw Hill:71-271.
6.
Brown, J. (1983) 'The structure of motives for moving: A multi-dimensional model of residential mobility' Environment and Planning A 15: 1531-44.
7.
Burgess, R. and N. Skeltys (1992) The Findings of the Housing and Location Choice Survey: An Overview Background Paper for the National Housing Strategy.
8.
Castle, F. (1985) The Working Class and Welfare: Reflections on the Development of the Welfare State in Australia and New Zealand 1890-1980Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
9.
Chapin, F.S. (1974) Human Activities Patterns in the City: Things People Do in Time and SpaceNew York: John Wiley and Sons.
10.
Coupe, R. and B. Morgan (1981) 'Towards a fuller understanding of residential mobility: A case study in Northampton, England' Environment and Planning A 13: 201-216.
11.
Duncan, B. and P. Hauser (1960) Housing a Metropolis: ChicagoGlencoe: Free Press.
12.
Hammond, C. (1939) 'Slum Menace: Repositories of Disease' Sydney Morning Herald 20 February: 12.
13.
Houghton, S. (1993) 'Residential mobility in Perth, 1971-86: The impact of age specific net migration'Urban Policy and Research11(3): 118-31.
14.
Hugo, G. (1986) Australia's Changing PopulationMelbourne: Oxford University Press.
15.
Kemney, J. (1983) The Great Australian NightmareMelbourne: Georgian House.
16.
Kendig, H. (1981) Buying and Renting: Household Moves in AdelaideCanberra: Institute of Urban Studies .
17.
Kendig, H. (1984) 'Housing careers, life cycle and residential mobilityImplications for the housing market' Urban Studies21: 271-83.
18.
Kendig, H. (1990) 'A Life Course Perspective on Housing Attainment' in Myers, Dowell (ed.) Housing Demography: Linking Demographic Structure to Housing MarketsMadison: Wisconsin University Press: 133-56.
19.
Lansing, J. and L. Kish, L (1957) 'Family Life Cycle as an Independent Variable'American Sociological Review55: 324-40.
20.
Lansing, G. and E. Mueller (1967) The Geographical Mobility of LaborAnn Arbor: Survey Research Centre, University of Michigan .
21.
Leslie, G. and A. Richardson (1961) 'Life cycle, career pattern and decision to move'American Sociological Review26: 894-902.
22.
Long, L. (1992) 'Changing residence: A comparative perspective on its relationship to age, sex and marital status'Population Studies46: 141-57.
23.
Maher, C. (1984) Residential Mobility Within Australian CitiesCanberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics .
24.
Maher, C., J. Whitelaw, A. McAllister, R. Francis, J. Palmer, Eng Chee and P. Taylor (1992) Mobility and Locational Disadvantage within Australian Cities: Social Justice Implications of Household RelocationCanberra: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet .
25.
McCarthy, K. (1976) 'The household life cycle and housing choices'Papers of the Regional Science Association37: 55-80.
26.
McHugh, K. (1984) 'Explaining migration intentions and destination selection'The Professional Geographer36: 315-25.
27.
McLeod, B. and J. Ellis (1982) 'Housing consumption over the family life cycleAn empirical analysis' Urban Studies19: 177-85.
28.
Menzies, R.G. (1943) The Forgotten People and Other Studies in DemocracySydney: Angus and Robertson.
29.
Merton, R.K. (1948) 'The Social Psychology of Housing' in D. Wayne (ed.) Current Trends in Social PsychologyPittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press: 163-217.
30.
Morrow-Jones, H. (1989) 'Housing tenure change in American suburbs' Urban Geography10(4): 16-335.
31.
Neutze, M. and H. Kendig (1991) Achievement of Home Ownership Among Postwar Australian CohortsCanberra: AGPS.
32.
Peterson, G. (1967) 'A model of preference: Qualitative analysis of the perception of the visual appearance of residential neighbourhoods'Journal of Regional Science7: 19-31.
33.
Pickvance, C. (1973) 'Life cycle, housing tenure and intra-urban residential mobilityA causal model' Sociological Review21: 279-92.
34.
Quigley, J. and D. Weinberg (1977) 'Intra-urban Residential Mobility: A Review and Synthesis' International Regional Sciences Review2: 41-66.
35.
Roistacher, E. (1974) 'Residential mobility in J. Morgan (ed.) Five Thousand American Families: Patterns of Economic Progress, vol. 3 Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan: 259-78.
36.
Rossi, P. (1955) Why Families Move: A Study in the Social Psychology of Urban Residential MobilityGlencoe: Free Press.
37.
Sabagh, G., M. Van Arsdol Jr., E. Butler (1969) 'Some determinants of intra-metropolitan residential mobilityConceptual considerations' Social Forces48: 88-98.
38.
Sandefur, G. (1985) 'Variations in interstate migration of men across the early stages of the life cycleDemography22: 353-66.
39.
Sandefur, G. and W. Scott (1981) 'A dynamic analysis of migration: An assessment of the effects of age, family and career variables'Demography18(3): 355-68.
40.
Speare, A., E. Goldstein and W. Frey (1974) Residential Mobility, Migration and Metropolitan Change Cambridge MA: Ballinger Publishing Company.
41.
Stimson, R. (1978) Social Space, Preferred Space and Residential Location Behaviour: A Social Geography of Adelaide PhD Thesis, School of Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide .
42.
Troy, P. (1991) The Benefits of Owner Occupation URP Working Paper No. 29, Canberra: Australian National University.
43.
Varady, D. (1983) 'Determinants of residential mobility decisions'Journal of the American Planning Association49: 184-99.
44.
Wirth L. (1947) 'Housing as a field of sociological research' American Sociological Review12 (2): 137-43.
45.
Wulff, M. (1993) 'An overview of Australian housing and locational preference studies: Choices and constraints on the housing market'Urban Policy and Research11(4): 230-37.
