The LIFELONGMOVE project represents a groundbreaking effort as the first comprehensive examination of spatial mobility from early childhood to adulthood, encompassing the concept of lifelong mobility.
Current research has only begun to explore the increasingly diverse and intricate ways in which individuals engage in spatial mobility over their lifetimes, particularly in the context of growing inequality. While childhood backgrounds and circumstances significantly shape life opportunities and outcomes in later years, the role of childhood mobility in influencing the diversity of life paths and stratified outcomes in adulthood remains largely unknown.
LIFELONGMOVE bridges the gap by integrating separate bodies of research on childhood and adulthood spatial mobility, providing fresh insights into the underlying pathways, resources, and strategies that define lifelong mobility. By challenging conventional explanations of spatial mobility patterns, behaviors, and stratified outcomes over the course of life, the project aims to propose alternative perspectives.
LIFELONGMOVE focuses on three main innovative objectives:
- documenting the diverse and complex trajectories of lifelong mobility by examining long-term pathways from early childhood to adulthood;
- investigating the influence of childhood mobility on spatial mobility throughout the life course; and
- examining the impact of lifelong mobility on various life conditions, including socio-economic, family, and health outcomes.
To achieve these objectives, LIFELONGMOVE adopts a novel approach that recognizes the experiences and resources accumulated since early childhood, which underlie the motivations, opportunities, and constraints of mobility behaviors and their associated outcomes in later life.
This project breaks new ground by analyzing extensive longitudinal datasets derived from integrated administrative registers and panel surveys, allowing for a comprehensive study across a range of European contexts. Advanced quantitative methods are employed to analyze the data and derive meaningful insights.