Migration, Residential Mobility and Union Formation

Bohyun Jang, Ohio State University
Anastasia R. Snyder, Ohio State University

Despite the importance of migration and residential mobility as a predictor of other life course events, few studies have accommodated or emphasized the effect of the migration and residential mobility in investigating union formation among young people. By using public and geocode data files from the NLSY97, we estimate discrete time competing risks that examine the relationship between changes in residence and first union formation. The results indicate that change in residence significantly increases the likelihood of union formation; either migration or residential mobility is significantly associated with higher relative risks of cohabitation over remaining single, and residential mobility increases the relative risks of cohabitation versus staying single but decreases the risk of marriage versus cohabitation. An increase in the number of migration slightly raises the relative risks of cohabitation versus remaining single, whereas more residential mobility significantly decreases the relative risks of marriage over either cohabiting or remaining single.