Temporary youth mobility: motivations and benefits from a life-course perspective

Temporary mobility experiences, such as linguistic stays, volunteering, or backpacking have become popular among young adults. This article takes a life-course perspective to understand young adults’ motivations for becoming temporarily mobile, as well as the perceived benefits. We analyse data from an almost entire cohort of Swiss men (N = 40,503) and a representative sample of 2,000 young women. First, we provide a descriptive analysis of young adults’ motivations for and perceived benefits of temporary mobility. Second, we focus on the young men and establish a typology of motivations, revealing utilitarian, hedonistic, and opportunistic dimensions. Three groups of young adults with different motivations and perceived benefits are identified: the Professionals, the Curious, and the Pragmatic. Our results highlight that motivations relate to young adults’ life-course trajectories and vary mainly according to previously accumulated mobility capital. Many young adults with low mobility capital seek to accumulate it in order to gain professional advantage.