Childhood Residential Mobility and the Accumulation of Wealth Inequalities: Evidence from 1958 British Birth Cohort

• In Event: Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 9. Wealth Inequality

Abstract

Wealth inequality is widely recognised as a central dimension of social stratification, yet the early-life processes through which it is produced remain poorly understood. Although family disruptions such as parental separation are known to shape later economic outcomes, childhood residential mobility – a common feature of housing insecurity and family instability – has received comparatively little attention in sociological research on wealth. This article examines whether, and under what conditions, childhood residential mobility contributes to inequalities in adult asset accumulation and, if so, under what conditions. Drawing on longitudinal data from the 1958 National Child Development Study, I link residential histories from birth to age 16 to two indicators of economic security at age 33: homeownership and net financial wealth. Childhood mobility is conceptualised as a multidimensional process, distinguishing between the frequency and timing of moves and whether residential change coincided with school disruption. The results reveal a clear stratified pattern. Occasional moves are largely benign by early adulthood, but repeated mobility is associated with lower wealth and reduced access to homeownership, especially when it extends into adolescence or disrupts schooling. Psychosocial difficulties in adolescence partially mediate the association between frequent childhood mobility and adult financial wealth, though they explain little of the link with homeownership. By highlighting the long reach of childhood housing experiences, the study extends sociological accounts of stratification beyond labour markets to the foundations of asset accumulation.

Author

• Riccardo Valente, Centre for Demographic Studies