E. Ravenstein’s laws of migration, 1889 (1995, J. Royal Stat. Soc. 48) introduced the notion that people move in order to better themselves economically. In this view, migration is considered as the individual’s response to regional differentials in economic development. Ravenstein’s fifth ‘law’ of migration suggests that women are more mobile than men, at least across short distances—a contention supported by Boyle and Halfacree (1995) Reg. Studs 29, 1 and Faggian et al. (2007) J. Reg. Sci. 47, 3.