Thursday morning USA Today reported on a new findings from a study of the Pew Research Center’s survey data, which shows that Americans are feeling pulled closer to home.
USA Today reports:
The majority of U.S.-born adults (56%) have not lived outside their birth state, suggests research out Wednesday, and of the 37% who have stayed in their hometown, three-quarters say the main reason is because they want to be near family. Fifteen percent have lived in four or more states.
Pew Research Center’s survey paints a vivid portrait about how Americans feel about their hometowns at a time when geographic mobility is at the lowest levels since the government began keeping statistics in 1948. Pew cites government that data shows 13.2% moved from 2006 to 2007, down from a high of 21.2% in 1951. Census figures to be released in 2009 confirm the trend, showing a dip to 11.9%.
The sociological commentary…
Duke University sociologist Angela O’Rand says economic uncertainty causes people to dig in where they are, making them less likely to risk moving. “Family provides in an uncertain world some level of safety and certainty,” O’Rand says.
Comments 2
CSF — December 19, 2008
This explanation -- "economic uncertainty causes people to dig in where they are, making them less likely to risk moving" -- hardly fits the Census Bureau's long-term data, which shows that moving rates have been declining pretty steadily since 1947, through booms and recessions. Indeed, this strong economic downturn may well bump up moving as people are foreclosed and others run out of unemployment insurance. Finally, the attraction of family in bad times probably leads more people to move -- to move back home -- than to stay put. So, the O'Rand thesis is probably all upside down.
James Dennis — November 18, 2013
Clean environment, garden, more a sense of belonging, to enjoy the weekend with familes, this is the concept of home.