Leaving home and leaving the State: evidence from the United States

Adjust for non-ignorable panel attrition in the analysis of leaving the parental home

Leaving the parental home is an important life event that has received significant attention in the literature. Research on this topic relies heavily on panel data; however, panel data faces the issue of serious non-ignorable panel attrition associated with leaving the parental home. This paper addresses this issue using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) as a case study. It introduces an adjustment procedure that combines panel gap imputation via the next observation carried backward and inverse probability weighting based on the retrieved information about leaving the parental home. The results show that this adjustment method yields more precise model estimates for leaving the parental home, and after the adjustment, the positive marginal effects of age and living with non-biological parents, as well as the negative marginal effects of Asian ethnicity and regional house prices, become more pronounced. This adjustment method has the potential to be applied to address non-ignorable panel attrition associated with other events in different panel data.

Parental co-residence and young adults' mental health

The growing trend towards young adults staying in the parental home has garnered much recent scholarly interest. However, less is known about which young adults are living at home, and the impacts this has over young adults' lives. Using The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) dataset, this study examines the profiles of co-residing young adults and how these have changed over the first two decades of the 21st century. It then analyses the associations between co-residence and young adults' mental health, applying a propensity score modelling approach to determine differences in mental health between young adults living at home and their counterparts living independently. Results indicate that rates of co-residence have increased over the 2000s, most steeply amongst those residing outside of major cities (by 46%), older adults (by 36%), females (by 28%), and low-income groups (by 10%). Findings show a significant negative association between co-residence and mental health (a 4-point difference on the 100-point scale, 95% CI -5.93, -2.14). However, the greatest differential in mental health between co-resident and independent young adults is observed amongst those for whom rates of co-residence have increased most dramatically, i.e., females and older adults (a 6-point difference in mental health) and residents of regional and rural areas (a 5-point difference in mental health). We situate this discussion in the context of intensifying housing market constraints, considering how the transformation of the Australian housing system into a vehicle for wealth accumulation has generated barriers to residential independence.

Leaving Home for Marital and Non-marital Reasons in the Netherlands, 1850–1940: The Impact of Parental Death and Parental Remarriage

Previous research shows that parentally bereaved children in north-western Europe in the past left home earlier than children who lived together with both biological parents. This article analyses the mechanisms behind this phenomenon with a special focus on the routes out of the parental household and the entry of step-parents and step-siblings. The Historical Sample of the Netherlands is exploited which contains detailed information about household composition and life courses of more than 22,000 female and male adolescent and young adult children born between 1850 and 1922. Event-history analysis is applied, and two exclusive routes out of the parental household, for marital and non-marital reasons, are studied in a competing risk design. The results show that parental loss does not increase the risk of early marriage before age 23, but strongly enhances the chances for leaving home for non-marital reasons, which are mainly work-related. This is especially true in case of maternal loss. No support is found for the hypothesis that the entry of a step-parent and step-siblings increases the risk of leaving home compared to living with a single widowed parent. Tensions with step-parents therefore do not suffice to explain why parentally bereaved children left earlier for non-marital reasons. Instead, we argue that children’s exit was in the interest of both the single widowed parent and the bereaved child.

Nest leaver or home stayer? Sibling influence on parental home leaving in the United Kingdom

Studies have suggested that the timing of leaving one's parental home can be influenced by a number of factors, such as gender, educational background, and parental characteristics. However, despite empirical evidence showing that siblings may influence one another's life course decisions, intragenerational effects on leaving home have not been adequately studied. In this study, we investigated the extent to which an event of a sibling leaving is associated with one's decision to leave the parental home and how demographic sibling characteristics may impact on the association. We also tested whether the number of siblings who left the parental home first is related to one's timing of leaving. Using data from "Understanding Society: The U.K. Household Longitudinal Study", we studied the process of leaving the parental home among 22,719 children and their siblings. The results indicated a positive relationship between leaving of a sibling and the own event of leaving. When siblings are brothers and have a small age gap, and when the nest-leaving sibling is older than the at-risk children, this relationship is even stronger. Finally, the more nest-leaving siblings one has, the less likely one is to stay at home. The findings provide evidence for cross-sibling effects on parental home leaving, underscoring the role of intragenerational associations with respect to life course events.

The Role of Family and Friends in Return Migration and Its Labor Market Outcomes

Drawing on survey data on individuals’ motives for migration in Sweden (N = 2172), we examine the importance of family and friends for return versus onward migration, including their importance for different age groups and in different communities on the rural–urban spectrum. The results point to a significant relationship between the importance of family and return versus onward migration, with family importance decreasing with age among returning migrants. At the same time, the importance of friends for returning increases with age. The findings did not suggest a significant relationship between urbanicity and returning versus migration elsewhere. Based on a subset of respondents who were employed prior to migrating (n = 1056), we further examined labor market outcomes for onward versus returning migrants. The results broadly indicate that return migrations are linked to lower likelihoods of labor market deterioration and improvement, suggesting greater labor market stability for return vis-à-vis onward migrations. However, the importance of family for returning (versus moving elsewhere) is associated with higher likelihoods of labor market deterioration and improvement compared with staying the same, indicating greater volatility in labor market outcomes when the importance of family is considered.

Adolescent Intergenerational Relationship Dynamics and Leaving and Returning to the Parental Home

OBJECTIVE

Drawing on the life course perspective and theoretical models of intergenerational solidarity, this research explores how adolescent-parent relationships (i.e., parent-child closeness, parental attentiveness, family routines, and parenting styles) are associated with young adults' transitions to adulthood.

BACKGROUND

The study adds to the growing literature on adolescents' leaving and returning to the parental home by focusing on parent-child relationships and variations across gendered parent-child dyads.

METHOD

Based on data spanning nearly 2 decades from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (N = 5,201), event history analysis was employed to assess how intergenerational family dynamics correlate with young adults' risk of leaving (n = 4,519) and returning to (n = 2,749) the parental home.

RESULTS

The results indicate that, net of individual, household, and other contextual factors, parent-child closeness is significantly and positively associated with leaving the parental home. This suggests that close parent-child relationships can help launch children into adulthood. Looking at returns to the parental home, closeness becomes significant for daughters only and is moderated by parent gender. In addition, measures of parenting style indicate a significant and negative association between more-passive styles and children's return to the parental home.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the need to more closely consider the impact of gender and parent-child relationship dynamics in facilitating young adults' transition to adulthood.

Race/ethnic Differences in Spatial Distance between Adult Children and Their Mothers

OBJECTIVE

This brief study examines race/ethnic differences in geographic distance to mothers among adults in the U.S.

BACKGROUND

Race/ethnic differences in rates of adult children living with their mothers in the U.S. are well documented but spatial distances beyond shared housing are not.

METHOD

Spatial distances between residential locations of adults 25 and older and their biological mothers are estimated using the 2013 Panel Study of Income Dynamics for Hispanics, blacks, and whites. Multinomial logistic regression models and nonlinear decomposition techniques are used to assess the role of demographic factors, socioeconomic status, and health of the child and mother in accounting for race/ethnic differences in adult child-mother proximity.

RESULTS

Blacks are more likely than whites to live with their mother and more likely to live within 30 miles but not coresident, whereas whites are more likely to live more than 500 miles away. Geographic proximity to mother is distinct for Hispanics with nearly one-third having their mother outside the U.S. Demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors account for the fact that blacks are about twice as likely as whites to live with their mother but do not fully account for large white-black differences in proximity outside the household. The single most important factor accounting for white-black differences is marital status for coresidence but education for proximity in the U.S. beyond coresidence.

CONCLUSION

New national estimates illustrate the complexity of race/ethnic differences in proximity to mothers that are not reflected in studies of coresidence.

Leaving Home and Destination of Early Nest Leavers: Ethnicity, Spaces and Prices

This study examines ethnic differences in leaving the parental home and the choice of destination (both location and quality of housing) in the Netherlands. Using unique individual administrative panel data, we study the mobility of the entire birth cohort 1983. In contrast to previous studies, this paper includes the geographical location and the quality of destination living arrangements in the analysis, in an attempt to explain ethnic differences in leaving the parental home. We show that ethnic minority youth, in particular those from Turkish and Moroccan origin, improve their housing quality when leaving the parental home. This results in earlier home-leaving than among young people of native Dutch origin. Our results on the early home-leaving behaviour of ethnic minority youth are robust with regard to the geographical distance of nest leavers.

Racial and ethnic differences in leaving and returning to the parental home: The role of life course transitions, socioeconomic resources, and family connectivity

BACKGROUND

Although Black and Hispanic young adults in the U.S. are less likely than Whites to move out of the parental home and more likely than Whites to return, reasons for these differences have not been clearly identified.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the ability of racial/ethnic disparities in life course transitions, socioeconomic resources, and family connectivity to account for racial/ethnic differences in leaving and returning home.

METHODS

Using data from the 2005–2011 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Transition into Adulthood study (N=1,491, age 18 to 26), we estimated discrete-time event history models predicting the timing of moving out of and back into the parental home.

RESULTS

Although no single factor completely explained racial-ethnic differences in the timing of leaving and returning to the parental home, the bulk of the Black-White differences in both home-leaving and home-returning was explained by group differences in transitions into adult roles, the ability to afford independent living, and connections to the origin family. These factors also explained most of the Mexican-White difference in home-leaving. However, only a small portion of the Hispanic-White difference in returning home was attributable to the proposed explanatory variables.

CONCLUSION

Explanations for racial and ethnic differences in the timing of leaving and returning to the parental home need to consider a broad array of life course characteristics in which Black, Hispanic, and White youth differ. The factors that explain Black-White differences in home-leaving and home-returning may differ from those that explain Hispanic-White differences in these behaviors.

Leaving home in Slovenia: a quantitative exploration of residential independence among young adults

The present paper analyzes and contextualizes the phenomenon of prolonged co-residence of parents and young adult children in Slovenia. It analyzes the process of moving out or staying at home on the basis of a subsample of young people between 19 and 29 who are no longer at school included in the representative Slovenian field survey Youth 2010. Young people still living in the household of their parents or (legal) guardians are compared with those who have already left. The analysis considers factors associated with the status transitions from youth to adulthood; the demographic, social and economic background; and the perception of the parent-child relationship quality and parenting style by the children. Our findings point to the importance of possibilities for independent housing and the economic capacity of young people and their family. The most important factor behind moving out seems to be a stable partnership.

Adolescent home-leaving and the transition to adulthood: A psychosocial and behavioural study in the slums of Nairobi

Home-leaving is considered an important marker of the transition to adulthood and is usually framed as an individual decision. We move beyond this limited assumption to examine a broader conceptualization that might better illuminate home-leaving among youth in impoverished circumstances. We adopt the Problem Behavior Theory-framework to investigate the association of home-leaving with behavioral and psychosocial variables and with other transitions. We use data on adolescents aged 14–22 years from a three-wave study conducted between 2007 and 2010. We used variable- and person-centered cross-sectional analyses, as well as predictive analysis of home-leaving by subsequent waves. Parental controls protection predicted home-leaving by subsequent waves. Overall, protective factors moderated the association of problem behavior involvement with leaving home in Nairobi’s slums.

Temporary integration, resilient inequality: race and neighborhood change in the transition to adulthood

This article focuses on neighborhood and geographic change arising with the first "selection" of an independent residential setting: the transition out of the family home. Data from two sources-the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics-are used to provide complementary analyses of trajectories of change in geographic location and neighborhood racial and economic composition during young adulthood. Findings indicate that for young adults who originate in segregated urban areas and remain in such areas, the period of young adulthood is characterized by continuity in neighborhood conditions and persistent racial inequality from childhood to adulthood. For young adults who exit highly segregated urban areas, this period is characterized by a substantial leveling of racial inequality, with African Americans moving into less-poor, less-segregated neighborhoods. However, the trend toward racial equality in young adulthood is temporary, as the gaps between whites and blacks grow as the young adults move further into adulthood. Crucial to the reemergence of racial inequality in neighborhood environments is the process of "unselected" change, or change in neighborhood conditions that occurs around young adults after they move to a new neighborhood environment.

How far do children move? Spatial distances after leaving the parental home

This research used geocoded data from 11 waves (2000-2010) of the German Socio-economic Panel Study to investigate the spatial distances of young adults' initial move-outs (N=2113) from their parents' homes. Linear regression models predicted moving distances by factors at individual, family, household, and community level. Overall, home leavers moved across very small distances with a median value of less than 10km. Greater distances were found for well-educated and childless home leavers who moved out at relatively young ages from high-income households located in less-urbanized regions. In line with developmental models of migration, young adults stayed closer if the parental household was still located at their place of childhood. We conclude that considering the spatial distance of move-outs may advance our understanding of individual passages to adulthood and intergenerational relations across the life course.

Ethnic differences in leaving home: timing and pathways

The dynamics of leaving home for youth from migrant families in the Netherlands are examined using individual administrative data on the 1977 and 1983 birth cohorts for the period 1999–2004. A competing-risks approach is applied to distinguish leaving home for union formation, to live independently, and to share with others. Migrant youth, and particularly Turkish and Moroccan youth, leave home at a significantly younger age than Dutch youth, given the relevant background variables. This is remarkable, given the older ages at which young people in the origin countries leave the parental home. The result may be seen as evidence of how the potential effects of cultural norms are counter-affected by other factors, such as the facilities of the welfare state and the awkward position of migrant youth between two cultures. Considering the pathways out of home, the analysis largely confirms the expected pattern: Turkish and Moroccan youth leave home more often for union formation and particularly marriage, while this pathway is of minor importance for Dutch youth at early ages.

Should i stay or should i go? The impact of age norms on leaving home

This article studies the association between social norms and the timing of leaving home. Although largely overlooked by most recent studies on leaving home, life-course theory suggests that age norms and age grading influence life-course decisions in general and leaving home in particular. We use Fishbein and Ajzen’s model of “reasoned behavior” to integrate this strand of research with the more individualistic view that dominates current thinking. Using data from a Dutch panel survey, we use a Cox regression model with a control for sample selection to estimate the association between perceived age norms and the timing of leaving home. We show that perceived opinions of parents are associated with the actual timing of leaving the parental home but that societal norms and friends’ norms concerning the timing of leaving home are not. In addition, the timing of leaving home is also associated with the perceived costs and benefits of leaving home and with the perceived housing market situation.