SEASONALITY OF CHILDRENS RESIDENTIAL-MOBILITY - A RESEARCH NOTE

Parents are often advised to schedule changes of residence for the summer so that children do not change schools during the regular school year. But very little research has been done on seasonality of children's moves and whether families that move 'off season' differ from those that move in the summer. The child supplement to the 1988 National Health Interview Survey offers an opportunity to examine the degree of seasonality of children's mobility and to analyze characteristics that increase or decrease the probability of moving during the summer months. We find that many variables included in studies of differential mobility exhibit seasonal effects, but in a multivariate model age of child (beyond 7 or 8 years old), long-distance moves, a highly educated mother, and race that is not Black most strongly raise the odds of moving in the summer.