The Dynamics of Working Couples' Activity Spaces

Eva Lelièvre, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Nicolas Robette, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

In Europe, most couples in their reproductive lives are faced with residential choices, which are influenced in part by their family and occupational choices. Whether one or both couple members work outside their home, whether they have children or not, the territory defined by their place(s) of residence and place(s) of work results from an equation in terms of gender roles, distances, career strategy, etc. Having collected the work and residential histories of both members of more than 1,500 couples born between 1930 and 1950, we present a paper that focuses both on applied research into the strategies of couples who relocate either their workplace or their home, and on methodological aspects of the modelling of territory dynamics. This paper forms part of a larger research program that aims to encompass a wider range of locations to which individuals are linked in the analysis of residential mobility.