The residential mobility histories of parents and children, and relationships to present proximity and social integration.

A 1983 social survey of 432 retired married English couples and their 864 children, investigating their residential separation from their children and the quality and structure of intergenerational contracts, was used to collect details of the residential histories of the parents and the children. The resulting data give information on the lifetime mobility of older people and the early adult moves of their children. The frequency and distance of moves are strongly related to social class. The residential separation between the 2 generations is related mainly to the younger generation's moves, their occupations, and their occupational mobility. The strong relationship between residential separation and social contact is summarized.