European Sociological Association 2021 • 10.09.2021Current Findings from BiB at the ESA Conference

The Connection between Willingness to Commute and Commuting Behaviour

The thematic focus of the presentations was on sociological findings related to the topic of spatial mobility. PD Dr. Heiko Rüger, Dr. Nico Stawarz and Dr. Thomas Skora from BiB and Prof. Dr. Brenton M. Wiernik (University of South Florida) investigated the relationship between the willingness to commute and actual commuting behaviour using European longitudinal data. Previous studies indicate a positive relationship between commuting willingness and behaviour. However, Dr. Rüger emphasised that the research until now can by no means be considered satisfactory and longitudinal studies are lacking. Therefore, the question of what the relationship is between the willingness to commute and the actual behaviour was investigated. Does increased willingness to commute increase the likelihood of beginning to commute long distances, or does active long-distance commuting lead to an increased likelihood that willingness will change?

The findings presented, based on the Job Mobilities and Family Lives in Europe survey, illustrate that willingness to commute cannot be viewed as a stable character trait of an individual, but is subject to changes that are closely related to current commuting behaviour. "The willingness to commute can, however, also be understood as a preference for commuting behavior," Dr. Rüger emphasised. However, the presented findings do not provide evidence for predicting future commuting behaviour.

Mobility Alternatives and Decision-Making Processes

Which forms of mobility are the best for coping with the commuting situation and what influences the decision-making process? Dr. Thomas Skora, PD Dr. Heiko Rüger and Prof. Dr. Knut Petzold looked at this question.

So far, only a few studies have empirically examined the various mobility alternatives in comparison and in their interdependence. In addition, a distinction between daytime and weekend commuting (i.e. staying overnight at a second residence near the workplace during the work week) is rarely made. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse the mobility decisions of individuals with a long commute using the forms of mobiliy examples of migration, daily commuting and weekend commuting and to focus on the interaction of migration and commuting costs. Using data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), it becomes clear that especially weekend commuting is a preferred alternative when both migration and daily commuting costs are very high. "Weekend commuting, however, turns out to be impractical for parents of school-age children," Dr. Skora pointed out. In this situation, parents tend to commute daily, even if the distance is very far. "It can be assumed that the cost of being away from the family during the week is considered very high," the sociologist said.

Do Job-Related Moves Affect Health and Quality of Life?

Job-related moves can affect health and quality of life in positive ways, such as a reduction in commuting distances, an increase in job satisfaction and time for leisure activities. Despite these benefits, factors such as loneliness, lack of social contacts, moving away from family and friends, or relationship problems can negatively affect quality of life. Research findings on the consequences of job-related moves for health were presented by Dr. Nico Stawarz, Prof. Dr. Oliver Arránz Becker (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) and PD Dr. Heiko Rüger.

Their findings, based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), illustrate that job-related moves have different effects on physical and mental health. "Our findings highlight a short-term improvement in physical health status in the period up to 4 years after the move, while mental health tends to decline before the move and increase afterward," Dr. Stawarz explained. "In addition, the analyses reveal a clear influence of education level on the association between job-related moves and both physical and mental health," the sociologist said. Thus, improvements in health occurred primarily among the highly educated, while health deteriorated among those with lower levels of education.

Diverse Employment Histories of Older People Require Multidimensional Explanations

In addition to the series of events on spatial mobility, the programme included further contributions by BiB staff. Dr. Andreas Mergenthaler, for example, looked at the employment histories of older people between the ages of 55 and 77. Based on the BiB survey "Transitions and Old Age Potential (TOP)", he examined the profiles of older people in employment up to retirement age and how they are distributed.

He made clear that prolonged employment is characterised by a diverse spread of transitions into retirement between the sixth and eighth decades of life. “Our findings show, with regard to weekly working hours, a juxtaposition of increases and decreases, partial resumption of gainful employment at retirement age, but also frequent withdrawal from gainful employment with increasing age," he concluded. There are many reasons for this. For example, gender, age, health status or individual preferences and plans for retirement all play a role. These findings indicate that one-dimensional approaches to explaining the different employment histories of older people are not sufficient. Dr. Mergenthaler therefore pleaded for multidimensional approaches that include subjective evaluations, as well as older people's plans and attitudes toward labour force participation in the second half of life.

Attitudes of Mothers toward Childcare and Gainful Employment

Kerstin Ruckdeschel examined the question of why some mothers prefer to care for their children themselves and do not want to work full-time. Do they distrust the public childcare system or are these behaviours based on culturally influenced attitudes, so-called "Leitbilder"? With the help of data from the survey "Concepts of Family in Germany," Ruckdeschel made it clear that the working time model chosen by mothers certainly correlates with their opinion of infant care: For example, those mothers with a one- to two-year-old child who work full time are the ones who believe that it does not harm small children to not be cared for exclusively by their own mother and that they will definitely not suffer if they attend all-day care. Added to this is the mother's belief that gainful employment, which ensures a certain degree of financial independence from her partner, is important. "However, there are clear differences between eastern and western Germany," Ruckdeschel found. In western Germany, part-time work is much more widespread than in eastern Germany.

The project was presented as a "work in progress," but it can be stated as a first conclusion that West German mothers work part-time to meet their ideal of a good mother because they believe that a young child is best cared for by his or her own mother and not because they distrust all-day care facilities.

Medical Assistance for Infertility: Yes or No?

Why people decide for or against medical assistance in infertility is still unclear. To help clarify this question, Dr. Jasmin Passet-Wittig presented an overview of existing studies on this topic. "The studies come from different scientific disciplines. Accordingly, they differ greatly in design and methodology."

The evaluation of the studies revealed five categories of factors influencing the use of medical support: socio-demographic variables (these include, for example, age or ethnic origin), socio-economic factors (such as income or socio-economic status), reproductive history (for example, already existing children or previous illnesses), the respective personal attitudes (for example, about wanting children or reproductive medicine) and psychological factors (such as feelings of stress or depression). The evaluations show, among other things, that a large number of the studies deal with socio-economic factors. The reason for this is seen in the fact that fertility treatments are usually expensive and are either not covered at all or only partially covered by health insurance. As before, the field of research is heterogeneous and fragmented, so she recommends: "We need better data as well as more life course studies and cross-national investigations."

Better Compatibility through Home Office? Yes, but...

Working from home has increased significantly in many countries in the wake of the Corona pandemic. Can this development contribute to an easier work-life balance in the long term?

To answer this question, Dr. Inga Laß, together with Prof. Dr. Mark Wooden from the University of Melbourne, analysed data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey for the years 2004 to 2019. "The findings show that working at home does not generally reduce the conflict between family and work," says Dr. Laß. However, gender differences are apparent in that women tend to benefit more from working from home than men. In addition, the extent of the home office plays a role. "Only when the majority of working time is spent at home does the conflict lessen between job and family."