Fewer Americans Uproot Themselves for a New Job

U.S. census data indicates that about 3.5 million Americans relocated for a new job last year, a 10 percent dip from 3.8 million in 2015, reports the Wall Street Journal . The numbers have been trending lower overall, even as the U.S. population has expanded by almost 20 percent since 1999. Underlying factors cited by experts include depressed value for homes, limited job openings, and prohibitively high housing costs in areas where jobs are plentiful. Family reasons or the existence of a better job nearby are other factors playing into employees' reduced willingness to move. The University of Connecticut's Thomas Cooke notes people with children are less likely to move following a divorce than they were in prior decades, as more parents choose shared-custody arrangements. He also says adults increasingly make decisions with their children's input, partly out of a reluctance to disrupt their routines and friendships. Moreover, the Pew Research Center says women are contributing more to family incomes, making it difficult to replicate a family's standard of living if only one spouse has a new job in a different city. Also contributing is a growing population of adult caregivers of aging parents. Meanwhile, Colorado career coach Aimee Cohen says relocation packages have become less generous, and there is little certainty about the duration of a new job.