The effect of socio-economic class, regional origin and other variables on marital mobility in Britain 1920-1960.

Abstract

A survey carried out by the Population Investigation Committee in 1959-1960 provides nationwide data on the marital mobility of marriage cohorts from 1920 to 1960. These mobility data are analysed by socio-economic class, religious affiliation and regional origin. After adjustment for the influences of covariates, the most important factors affecting mobility were the socio-economic class of wife's father, husband and husband's father in that order. Significant variation in mobility also exists with respect to regional origin, but differences in mobility between the adherents of different religions were much less striking. An attempt is made to account for the working of these factors using other material from the P.I.C. survey and from other sources.