Individual life courses are marked by residential mobility often associated with family
and workplace changes and therefore likely to be related to the types of personal
relationships people develop and maintain. Evidence about the relationship between
residential mobility behaviours over the life course and personal network composition is however scarce. This study investigates this relationship among 747 individuals
living in Switzerland using regression models and standard deviational ellipse for
analysing all residential locations in Switzerland and their duration over the life
course. Results show that people with low residential mobility have personal
networks centred around the partner and vertical family ties (parents and children),
confirming that strong intergenerational ties develop in close proximity. By contrast,
longer distance residential moves at the regional level are associated with small
personal networks centred around peers and horizontal ties (such as friends and
siblings). The network composition of people with mobility experiences at the
national level does not differ from the network composition of non-movers when
controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Likewise, networks including
in-laws and extended family members and large mixed networks including both
family and friends were not associated with a particular residential mobility
trajectory. The density of the Swiss transport system enabling people to stay
connected to family and friends may partly explain the weak association between
residential mobility behaviours and the composition of personal networks.
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