Mobility and social inequality: exploring the nexus by the means of sequence analysis and geovisualisation

Abstract

This paper reports on a study investigating patterns of long- and mid-term mobility over the life course and their potential interrelationships with social inequality. The study focuses on a sample of persons in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. We examine whether spatial and temporal characteristics of mobility patterns differ according to indices of social inequality such as gender, educational attainment, or income, and if yes, how. A methodological framework is developed that enables studying the nexus of mobility and social inequality from different perspectives. Sequence analysis is introduced to this research area in order to reveal mobility patterns and to study their temporal characteristics. This approach is complemented with advanced geovisualisation techniques that enable studying the spatial dimensions of the mobility patterns of various social groups. Our results show that different social groups show similar mobility patterns despite their differing social characteristics. Gender inequalities such as women's disadvantage regarding income or educational attainment exist across the mobility patterns. This persistent gender pattern indicates that the mobility patterns do not necessarily differ along the same axes that structure the society and that the relationships between mobility patterns and social inequalities are complex.