Migration and the life course

The importance of migration as a biographic event within the life course is asserted, using data for the former Federal Republic of Germany. "The migration process can be described by...various factors like the frequency of moves, the age when changing residence, the distance, the direction, [and] the motives.... Each change of residence has both a retrospective and prospective aspect. Additionally, changes in other biographic processes like marriage or births of children in the familial career or changes in the occupational career directly influence migration decisions. But there are also effects in the opposite direction: the migration process can influence the further development of other biographic processes. Thus, there exist a very complex structure of strong interdependent relationships between the several biographic careers." (SUMMARY IN FRE)