Proefschrift Willemijn.indd

Having higher education has become increasingly common among both males and females in Europe and in the US. In 2006 one quarter of the population received a degree in higher education in the Netherlands, while years earlier this was only one fifth. Another important trend is the increase of the labour force participation of women. As a result, the number of double-income households increased considerably and nowadays double-income households are the majority of household types. Because double-income households have to combine two working places with one residential place, double-income households face a more complex work-home location problem. This problem, referred to as the ‘co-location problem’, may have important implications in terms of commuting behaviour, residential location and, hence, the distribution of households. Part I of this thesis focussed on the relationship between household characteristics and their residential choice. Special attention was given to double-income households and couples of which both members are higher-educated, called ‘power couples’, and we analysed whether they, as a result of the co-location problem, differ in their commuting behaviour and location choice compared with other household types.