Family Migration and Women's Labour Market Status in Britain: The Effect of State Dependence and Geography

Paul J. Boyle, University of St Andrews
Zhiqiang Feng, University of St Andrews
Vernon Gayle, University of St Andrews

Numerous studies have shown that women’s labour market status is influenced by family migration. Thus, it has been shown that women who move long distances with their partners have lower wages, work shorter hours and are less likely to be employed in the labour market than otherwise equivalent women. Using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) we investigate two issues that have received relatively little attention in this literature. First, we explore the role of women’s employment status prior to moving, using random-effects dynamic probit models that allow us to model state dependence issues explicitly. Second, we also include variables relating to the geographical location of the movers. In particular, we test whether moving into urban destinations increases women’s subsequent employment rates and whether women working in geographically ubiquitous jobs are less likely to be out of work following family migration.