Who Moves to Whom? Gender Differences in the Distance to a Shared Residence

Maria Brandén, Stockholm University
Karen Haandrikman, Stockholm University

Women often have a secondary role in couples’ migration decisions. We examine whether this is the case also when newly formed couples decide where to live. Are women more prone to move in with their new partner or to move over longer distances than their partner when moving in together? And whose socio-economic and demographic attributes dominate the decision on where to live? Using the Swedish PLACE database (1990-2008), we have access to high quality longitudinal register data including 180,000 newly formed heterosexual couples. We have detailed information on distances between partners and characteristics of both partners even before union formation. Preliminary results indicate that women are more likely than men to move in with their partner, and on average move longer distances than men when the two partners live far apart prior to cohabitation. Age differences matter, but are not enough to explain these gender differences.