Do Economic, Social and Health Outcomes Differ Between People Who Remain in Rural Areas and Those Who Leave?

The project is concerned with the impact of residential (im)mobility on the later health, labour market and educational outcomes of rural residents in 1991 and 2001. In particular, an answer is sought to the question of whether moves from remote rural areas to urban areas lead to more favourable outcomes in comparison with those who live continuously in rural areas. One level of analysis will be to look at the changing demography of places through time, considering how residential mobility socially sifts the population, and whether rural areas lose younger population.

The second level of analysis aims to look at individuals in a longitudinal perspective and to outline how life chances are shaped. The project will look at all the population to generate a general picture but there will be a special focus on those aged 16-25 and those aged 50+ (in 1991 and 2001) to understand their situation ten years later (for the 2001 population) and ten and twenty years later (for the 1991 population) by looking at the 2011 NILS population.