Belonging to the Neighbourhood, Residential Mobility, and the Transition to Parenthood

Brian Buh , Vienna Institute of Demography
Eva Beaujouan, University of Vienna (Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital)
Ann M. Berrington, University of Southampton

Previous research shows that individuals often move in anticipation of parenthood, potentially rupturing local social connections in the process. However, local connections, familiarity, and emotional investment in the local area give individuals a sense of belonging. Thus, a stronger reported sense of belonging to the neighbour is indicative of stronger local social ties, well-being, a sense of security, and emotional investment. We hypothesise that a stronger sense of belonging is associated with a higher likelihood of having a first child, especially for recent movers, long-distance movers, and those living in urban centres. We employ the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Survey (2009-2022) and utilise multilevel logit regression. In our preliminary results, we observe, that a stronger sense of belonging to the neighbourhood is associated with a higher likelihood of becoming a parent. We find that the sense of belonging moderates the relationship between recent residential moves and parenthood. Individuals living in large urban areas are more likely to become parents if they have a stronger sense of belonging. These findings suggest that beyond objective measures of geographic place, the subjective feeling of belonging to the neighbourhood plays a role in the transition to parenthood.

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 Presented in Session 106. The Role of Social Networks and Diffusion in Fertility