Describing Patterns in Neighborhood Transitions by Age, Marital Status and the Presence of Children, 1970 – 2010

John W Sullivan, University of California, Los Angeles

The age profile, prevalence of marriage and rates of households with children have changed dramatically in the United States since 1970. Despite these changes, we know little about the segregation of individuals according to key demographic characteristics--age, marital status and the presence of children. We know less about how differences in mobility patterns contribute to the residential distribution of people who differ in age, marital status and family composition. I focus explicitly on these three characteristics in order to describe residential mobility. I combine data from the PSID and the U.S. Census from 1970 – 2010 to describe neighborhood transition probabilities and flows for groups categorized according to the aforementioned variables. This paper provides description of mobility patterns, historical changes in these patterns and foundation for further insight into the extent to which individual demographic characteristics may interact with neighborhood level characteristics to influence residential mobility and shape neighborhood composition.