Stayers are an important component of the internal migration system, yet despite their numerical significance, they are often treated as ancillary to movers in the migration literature. As a result, there is a conflict between the mobility‐centric view of immobility as undesirable and developing narratives which recognise staying as an active and consciously made decision. We therefore need to rethink immobility conceptually and empirically to shed light on a numerically dominant component of the population that has largely been neglected. Using Australia as a case study, this paper examines whether being a stayer has a positive or negative association with life satisfaction, and whether this relationship varies by (1) preference for staying or leaving, (2) between cities and regional areas, and (3) before and during the onset of the pandemic. By first reconceptualising staying as an active process and distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary stayers, life satisfaction outcomes are examined using four migration preference‐behaviour types: desired stayer, undesired stayer, desired mover and undesired mover. Drawing on nationally representative survey data and regression modelling, results reveal important differences in life satisfaction outcomes between individuals expressing a preference for staying or leaving. Findings highlight that while satisfaction of stayers generally declined, being an undesired stayer was associated with a significantly greater loss of life satisfaction compared to being a desired stayer. The magnitude of this association was greater for undesired stayers in regional areas and those surveyed during the pandemic. These results illuminate the varied characteristics and outcomes of stayers within the Australian migration system, demonstrate the importance of acknowledging preference in theorisations of (im)mobility and emphasise the value of adopting an immobility‐focused perspective on internal migration.

中文翻译：

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了解澳大利亚的流动性与生活满意度之间的关系


滞留者是内部移民系统的重要组成部分，尽管其数量意义重大，但在移民文献中，他们常常被视为迁徙者的辅助者。因此，以流动性为中心的观点（认为不流动是不可取的）与发展中的叙事之间存在冲突，后者认为留下来是一种主动且有意识地做出的决定。因此，我们需要从概念和经验上重新思考流动性，以阐明人口中在数量上占主导地位的部分，而这一部分在很大程度上被忽视了。本文以澳大利亚为案例研究，研究了居住者身份与生活满意度是否存在正相关或负相关关系，以及这种关系是否因 (1) 留在或离开的偏好、(2) 城市和地区之间的偏好以及 ( 3）大流行爆发之前和期间。首先将居留重新概念化为一个主动过程，并区分自愿和非自愿居留者，使用四种移民偏好行为类型来检查生活满意度结果：期望的停留者,不受欢迎的停留者,所需的搬运工和不受欢迎的搬家者。根据全国代表性的调查数据和回归模型，结果揭示了表达偏好留下或离开的个体之间生活满意度结果的重要差异。调查结果强调，虽然入住者的满意度普遍下降，但不受欢迎的停留者与成为一个人相比，与更大的生活满意度损失相关期望的停留者。 这种关联的程度更大不受欢迎的滞留者偏远地区和大流行期间接受调查的人。这些结果阐明了澳大利亚移民体系中滞留者的不同特征和结果，证明了承认流动性理论偏好的重要性，并强调了对内部移民采取以流动性为中心的观点的价值。