Still tied to Mum's apron strings

23 March 2001 - The future of the job market may lie in mobility, but most of us will just pop around the corner this Sunday to deliver Mother's Day cards and flowers. Research by the Future Foundation - The Renaissance of Regional Nations - shows that almost two-thirds of adult Britons live within an hour's journey of their mother with almost a third living less than 15 minutes away! On average Brits live within 12.6 miles of their mothers - and fathers, sisters and brothers are not much further away.

The likelihood of British workers upping sticks and moving to areas of skill shortage seem remote. The report concludes that we are 'a relatively static nation, strongly attached to our local communities and interests.'

The Future Foundation's research shows that:

* UK inhabitants live most of their lives - working, school, shopping, leisure and entertainment - within a 14 mile radius

* More than half of live within a 30-minute drive of their places of birth.

* Over half have lived in their current home for more than 10 years

* Nine in ten home owners will move within a 10 mile radius

"In the future, increases in homeworking, continued pressure on time and demographic shifts will mean that the local sphere becomes still more vital to people's day to day lives," says the Future Foundation report. "Whatever is happening on the global stage, people's everyday lives remain rooted in the physical local space within which they live and work."

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