Life events, social conditions and residential mobility among older adults

This study explores whether and how social conditions—ties to kin and friends as well as loneliness—are related to older adults' residential mobility, in general, and in combination with a late-life event, specifically. Drawing on panel data from the US Health and Retirement Study (N = 9107), logistic regression models examine whether older adult moves are triggered by life events (retirement, widowhood and health deterioration) and loneliness, and discouraged by the presence of nearby social ties (family and friends). The results indicate that becoming retired, becoming widowed, nearby family and nearby friends are indeed independently associated with moving. Loneliness is also associated with residential mobility, even when controlling for nearby family and friends. Social conditions do not, however, moderate the effect of late-life events on older adults' residential mobility. The only exception is the moderating role of loneliness on the effect of retirement: contrary to our expectation, the likelihood of postretirement moves declines with increasing levels of loneliness.