The role of the Mobility of Care in rural areas: An exploratory analysis in South Tyrol

Mobility of Care (MoC) encompasses all trips made for unpaid care work, including caregiving and domestic responsibilities. Previous studies have shown the prevalence of the MoC in daily mobility, its disproportionate impact on women, and its key characteristics. However, research has mostly focused on urban residents, while rural dwellers are underexplored, despite their challenges in accessing care services. In this study, we aim to explore the role of the MoC in rural areas through three steps. First, we conduct a literature review to derive the main findings from previous MoC studies. Second, we perform an exploratory analysis of the MoC in a rural case study by investigating its daily prevalence, who undertakes it, and how. Third, we compare the nuances of our case study with the literature. In line with previous research, our exploratory analysis shows that care trips represent about 35% of all daily trips in our rural case study. Women, seniors, and non-working people are the main caregivers in the sample. Private cars and active modes account for 90% of the care-related modal split. Notably, 30% of care trips are 5-15 km long, 50% take place during off-peak hours, and 60% are destinated for villages. Although our results cannot be generalised due to the limited sample size, they provide novel nuances of the potential rural specificities of MoC, which may be explored in future research. Moreover, they highlight the potential need for more flexible collective transport options for rural caregivers, beyond the peak-hour requirements of commuters and students.