is 27.3 km at the beginning and 26.5 km at the end of work life above that of full-time
employees (24.54 km/ 26.15 km).
The explanations have shown that commuting behaviour of an individual is dependent on
educational grade, as well as on an employee’s life phase. The higher the educational degree
the higher is the commuting rate and the distance covered. On the one hand an educational
degree is connected with individual opportunity costs and investments. These have to be
compensated later by an adequate employment payment. On the other hand the probability of
finding a suitable nearby job decreases with increasing qualification levels. Consequently the
employee’s searching radius is expanded with increased qualification.
In this part the influence of life phases on commuting behaviour of employees is discussed. At
the beginning of working life all educational grades have very low commuting rates. The first
job usually is accompanied with a change of place of residence. The change of place of
residence is orientated by place of work. Also it is possible that a workplace is searched for
near the place of residence - the working place is orientated by the place of residence. Family
reasons or employment uncertainty are reasons for such a decision. In both cases commuting
rate as well as average commuting distance will be very low.
The following life phase shows rising commuting rates. Typically this life phase is influenced
by career opportunities. Professional chances of success are improved through job changes.
Because a spatial commitment already exists, with the acceptance of new employment the
place of residence is not changed - particularly as it is unclear if the new job is not only a
stopover on the career ladder. So the only way to compensate for a change of working place is
through commuting.
Consolidation and establishment of the professional life characterise the following life phase.
The employee themselves has no need to change his or her job. For the employer it becomes
difficult to replace the employee as the period of employment increases. At least in the
medium term the working life seems to be predetermined. Up to now the motives of the
employee were determining mostly by professional decisions. Now the private life and social
connections become more important. Also with increasing age commuting starts to become a
health burden. Because of consolidated working situations commuting seems to become
unnecessary. The consequence is that the place of residence is influenced by the working
place. With increasing age - particularly at the end of the working life - the place of residence
is maintained. The main reasons are an increased desire to maintain home ownership and the
start of a family life. Also employment doubts are not questioned anymore. If at the end of
working life a workplace change becomes unavoidable, long commuting distances are
accepted. Fig. 6 shows for all educational grades increasing average commuting distances at
the end of working life.
Commuting rates and average commuting distances increase from the 56th year for part-time
employees. Responsible for this development are early retirement laws that transform full-
time employment into part-time employment. The formerly full-time employees do not break
their habits, so they increase the commuting rate and average commuting distances of part-
time commuters.
On the whole all educational grades are characterised by the described life phases. However
the time of their appearance is different because of the differences in the duration of
education. While employees with intermediate school leaving certificates need 10 years for
graduation, employees with university entrance qualifications need an additional three years
and employees with university degrees need an additional 5 years. The assumption that an
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