title: Mothers' Mobility after Separation: Do Grandmothers Matter?
abstract: Starting from a life course perspective, this study aims to gain more insight into mobility patterns of recently separated mothers, focusing especially on moves to the location of their own mother: the maternal grandmother. Separated mothers, having linked lives with their own mothers, may benefit from their practical and emotional support. Additionally, the grandparents' home can be a (temporary) place to stay shortly after divorce. Data come from the System of social statistical datasets (Statistics Netherlands). This unique dataset combines longitudinal data from a vast number of administrative registers. It covers the complete Dutch population, making it exceptionally well suited for life course and mobility research. We studied mothers with minor children between 1/1/2008 and 31/12/2010. Our study included 579,500 mothers, of whom about 8,800 (1.5%) experienced a separation in 2008. Separated mothers moved to the grandmother's municipality more often than non-separated mothers, which might be partially motivated by the need for childcare. They also coresided with the grandmother more than non-separated movers, mostly because of a vulnerable socio-economic position. Although often temporary, coresidence appears to have a prolonged impact on the mothers' location choice; mothers frequently stayed in the grandmother's municipality after moving out. Finally, our results indicated that some mothers seemed to use the parental home as a stepping stone to cohabit with a new partner. © 2016 The Authors. Population, Space and Place published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Statistics Netherlands The Hague The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marjolijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute/University of Groningen The Hague The Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels Belgium.
authors.forename: Helga
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Valk
authors.affiliation: Sanquin Blood Supply Amsterdam The Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Merz
keywords: coresidence; divorce; intergenerational relations; mobility; the Netherlands