Unique times, unequal mobilities: Daily mobility during the de‐escalation of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Scholars have highlighted drastic reductions in daily mobility during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. But what happened when restrictions were relaxed though risk remained ubiquitous? How did patterns of mobility change and how were they structured by socioeconomic resources and social roles? We address these questions using a cross-sectional representative sample (n = 2942) of the population of Andalusia, Spain, after a month and a half of severe lockdown in 2020. We find that older people were the least mobile group and that people living with children and in extended households were less likely to move to take care of others, unlike before the pandemic. Men were more likely to carry out daily mobilities for which women had been traditionally responsible, such as care mobilities. Women were also more likely to be immobile and less likely to commute. Finally, manual and nonqualified workers were more likely to commute, but they were just as likely as any other group to carry out other types of mobility. These results highlight the social character of mobility in a unique context. We emphasize the need to disaggregate daily mobility based on different purposes as well analysing how these are practised by different sociodemographic groups if we want to provide rigorous descriptions of a core component of individuals' daily life.