Modern Britons live 100 miles from birthplace It was just 5 miles a generation ago
ONCE, when people flew the nest, they went to the next street or village. But today, Britons are more inclined to spread their wings.
Half of us now live an average of 100 miles from where we were born, against just five miles a generation ago, research reveals.
But 49 per cent of Britons still live in or near their childhood home. London is the leading city for so-called ‘internal migrants’. But other major ‘go-to’ destinations are Essex and Kent – both easy commutes into London – and Lancashire, which has pretty towns in the countryside just a short distance of Manchester.
But London also has one of the highest number of people moving away. Scotland and Wales are among the other top places that are left, says family history website Ancestry. Its survey of 2,000 British-born adults showed a huge shift in people prepared to leave their home area compared with 25 years ago. Most move from where they were born for work (21 per cent) or a better quality of life (13 per cent).
One in 20 wanted to settle in the area where they studied.
And the pull of the countryside (7 per cent) was twice as strong as that of a bustling city (3 per cent).
In total, only a third of people will now live their whole lives in the place they were born compared to four in ten of the previous generation.
With increased mobility, access to university and the internet, people are more likely to meet partners from elsewhere in the country.
However, 49 per cent have stayed in the area where they grew up.
Staying close to their family is the main motivator (45 per cent) but almost as many – 42 per cent – are unwilling to break the ‘connection’ to the place where they have spent their whole lives.
Brad Argent, of Ancestry, said: ‘Immigration is something that we hear a lot about, but lesser known is the fascinating trend of people moving around within their own country which has seen a huge increase over the past few decades.’
‘Moving around has seen huge rise’