The role of non-resident family ties in rural staying

Internal migration research is paying increasing attention to the role in migration behaviour of having non-resident family—family living outside of the household—living close by, and also to non-migration and staying in general. Combining these two themes, this paper investigates the role of non-resident family ties in rural staying for adults aged 31–64. Using a mixed methods analysis of survey and interview data from the Netherlands, Germany and Northern Ireland (UK), we examine if the presence of non-resident family nearby relates to future intentions to stay in the rural region, and we explore the meanings of different family relations and how they relate to past and ongoing staying behaviours. Our findings reveal that living near non-resident children and in-laws increases the likelihood of the intention to stay in the rural region for the rest of one's lifetime. While the quantitative analyses suggest that the presence of parents in the area does not contribute to future staying intentions, the interviews revealed that parents' residential proximity was integral in the original staying decision. Non-resident family members provide emotional and instrumental support, offer location-specific structural opportunities, and provide a sense of security. Partly, family obligations also play a role in staying, yet not in the sense that rural stayers are ‘stuck in place’ because of family ties, but rather in an implicit way, intertwined with senses of belonging and attachment.