Movin’ on Up? Residential Mobility, Gender and Coupled Work Careers

Claudia Geist, Indiana University
Patricia A. McManus, Indiana University

Theoretical perspectives on residential mobility typically view household outcomes as reasonable approximations of the outcomes for all individuals in the household. For many couple-headed households, however, residential mobility has different implications for the careers of each partner. We use matched data from the 2000-2005 March Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey to investigate the relationship between family status, residential mobility and short-term labor market outcomes for working-age couples in the United States. We find that, on average, the short-term impact of residential mobility on household income is insignificant. However, dual-earner couples who move out of state become more equal with respect to hours and earnings.