Occupational branch, educational level and gender differences in regional mobility ‐Sweden 1998‐2003

Previousresearch indicates that educational levelaffects men’s butnotwomen’sregional mobility. Sex segregation on the labor market however makesit essentialto widen the focus to also include occupational branch when studying thesegender differences. This is thefocus of thispaper. Multinomial logistic models are applied onSwedish register data, with asample containingall Swedish dual‐earner couples with common children, 1998‐2003. Analysesreveal that men and women invarious male dominated high level occupations are more prone to move to a new locallabor market region with their partner thanothersare.Thepartner’s occupationalbranch has a slightly stronger impact on women’s mobility than on men’s.Finally, even after controllingfor occupational branch, it is mainly the man’s educational level that affects the couple’s regional mobility.This indicates that couples consider the man’s investmentin a higheducation moreworth relocating for thanthe woman’shigh education.