Abstract
This article investigates the association between the availability of childcare and low geographical mobility in southern Europe where, the author argues, couples that have or plan to have children live close to their parents in order to reconcile work and family life by taking advantage of their mothers’ low labour force participation rate. He presents a behavioural model showing couples’ fertility, female employment and mobility decisions, and tests the model’s predictions using ECHP data. The deterrent effect of a woman working on the couple’s mobility is found to be significant only for couples who have children and live in southern Europe.