A portrait of the nest-leaving process in early adulthood

This paper provides an in-depth portrait of the nest-leaving process in early adulthood as it emerged in the 1980s. Event histories are used to describe transitions in and out of the parental home during the years from age 15 through age 23. We focus on the role of the “new” forms of living arrangements in the leaving-home process, namely nonfamily living and cohabitation. The results show that the transition to full residential independence is more gradual, with more intermediate steps, than previous studies suggested. Cohabitation is rare as a route out of the parental home, and both nonfamily living and cohabitation lead to much higher return rates than does marriage.     

Parental Resources, Schooling Achievements, and Gender Schooling Gaps: Evidence of Change over 25 years in Rural Guatemala

We use village census data and linear regression models to examine changes between 1975 and 2002 in the associations of parental resources with boys’ and girls’ schooling in four rural Guatemalan villages. Levels of schooling in 1975 were universally low for children 7–17 years. Large increases in schooling achievements occurred between 1975 and 2002. By 2002, schooling levels were comparable for younger boys and girls (7–12 years, N = 3,525) and favored older boys compared to older girls (13–17 years, N = 2,440) by about 0.5 grades. The associations of household standard of living and maternal schooling with schooling among girls diminished over time and became more comparable with these associations among boys, and the associations of household standard of living with schooling among older boys declined and became more comparable with these associations among girls. Thus, as increased social investments reduce the costs of schooling or increase the supply and quality of schooling to families, the magnitudes of the associations between parental resources and children’s schooling decline and become more gender equitable at all ages. However, our results show that older boys may benefit more than older girls from social investments in schooling. These changes suggest potential needs to monitor gender gaps in schooling retention among older children, to insure gender equitable access to social investments in schooling, and to encourage parents to invest in schooling as joint measures to achieve greater schooling achievements of girls and boys.     

Leaving the parental home in Australia over the generations: Evidence from the Household,Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (Hilda) Survey

The decision to remain in or leave the parental home represents the first housing career choice of young people. In this paper, we examine the parental home leaving outcomes for Australian birth cohorts in the twentieth century using recall questions contained in the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. The findings from survival analysis and hazard function modelling is that a continuous, gradual reduction in the age of first leaving the parental home in Australia is evident up to the 1947–51 birth cohort, followed by stability and then a rise in age of first leaving home for the most recent birth cohorts. Birth cohort effects remain significant even after other measured determinants of parental home leaving are taken into account. The paper confirms the strong roles that education, family background and ethnicity have on parental home leaving outcomes.     

Are young people leaving home earlier or later?

Although the popular view is that young people are leaving home later, a closer investigation of the data from 1979 to 1995 shows that this is not entirely true. Decreases are observed in the proportion of 15–19 year old men and women living at home at least since the mid-1980s, the increase for 20–24 year old men ceased in 1990, and only 20–24 year old women show a sustained increase. If only unattached young adults are considered instead of the conventional measure, any increases are even more subdued. The overall trend seems to be that while late leavers may be leaving home later, early leavers are leaving earlier or at the same time.     

Gender,Turning Points,and Boomerangs: Returning Home in Young Adulthood in Great Britain

The idea of a generation of young adults “boomeranging” back to the parental home has gained widespread currency in the British popular press. However, there is little empirical research identifying either increasing rates of returning home or the factors associated with this trend. This article addresses this gap in the literature using data from a long-running household panel survey to examine the occurrence and determinants of returning to the parental home. We take advantage of the longitudinal design of the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008) and situate returning home in the context of other life-course transitions. We demonstrate how turning points in an individual’s life course—such as leaving full-time education, unemployment, or partnership dissolution—are key determinants of returning home. An increasingly unpredictable labor market means that employment cannot be taken for granted following university graduation, and returning home upon completion of higher education is becoming normative. We also find that gender moderates the relationship among partnership dissolution, parenthood, and returning to the parental home, reflecting the differential welfare support in Great Britain for single parents compared with nonresident fathers and childless young adults.     

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.     

Feathered nest/gilded cage: Parental income and leaving home in the transition to adulthood

The growing study of leaving home in young adulthood in the United States has been hampered by data and measurement problems, which are producing a major theoretical confusion about the role of parental resources in influencing young adults’ leaving home. Does high parental income retain young adults in the home or subsidize their leaving (and parental privacy)? This paper uses the 1984 panel of Survey of Income and Program Participation to clarify this issue, and shows that the effects of parental resources differ depending on the route out of the home under consideration (marriage or premarital residential independence). Effects change substantially over the nest-leaving ages, but relatively few differences are found between young men and young women.     

Parental leave regulations, mothers’ labor force attachment and fathers’ childcare involvement: evidence from a natural experiment

In 2007, Germany implemented a generous parental leave regulation in order to make parenthood more attractive and more compatible with a working career, especially for mothers. We evaluate the reform using a natural experiment that compares outcomes of parents with children born shortly after and before the coming into effect of the law, and find a significant decrease in mothers’ employment probability during the 12 months after giving birth, and an increase in mothers’ employment probability after the transfer expires. The implementation of two daddy months is currently not reflected in significant changes in fathers’ time devoted to childcare.     

Living arrangements and the transition to adulthood

The sharp decline with age in the percent of young adults who live with their parents is usually attributed to other concurrent life-cycle changes in the "transition to adulthood." We investigate this presumption using data tracking high school seniors seven years after graduation. Although marriage and military service strongly reduce residential dependence on parents, other life-cycle changes such as employment and parenthood are only weakly associated with living arrangements and often affect returning home more than leaving. "Leaving home" is often independent of other transition events and should be studied directly to understand recent patterns of family change.     

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.     

A Review of the Literature on Fuel Poverty with a Focus on Ireland

Fuel poverty has become a more prescient issue in recent years, both due to harsher winters and the economic downturn, which has made heating the home more difficult for many. Fuel poverty is sensitive to energy prices and also has a capital component linked to the energy efficiency of the home and its appliances. In 2013, 16 % of Irish individuals were recorded as being deprived of heating in the previous year, while 10 % were recorded as being unable to keep the home adequately warm. The data shows that fuel poverty has increased markedly since 2009. In this article, we review the literature on fuel poverty including the definition and measurement of fuel poverty, as well as the impacts on health and well-being. We also examine current policy initiatives aimed at alleviating fuel poverty and this is undertaken with a special focus on Ireland.     

Pathways to Independent Living in Early Adulthood: Marriage,Semiautonomy, and Premarital Residential Independence

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 are used to examine factors influencing young adults' departure from the parental home and the initial pathways taken, including leaving home for marriage, residential semi-autonomy (Semi), and premarital residential independence (PRI). Parents' education and continuing in school decrease the likelihood of leaving home via marriage and increase the likelihood of leaving home via Semi or PRI. All other factors considered affect all pathways out of the parental home in the same direction, but in differing magnitudes. The predominant influences on PRI are indicators of modern family values, whereas the predominant influences on leaving home for marriage are measures of resources, both those of the parents and those of the young adults.     

Parental underinvestment: A link in the fertility-mortality continuum

Selective parental investment in siblings has been used to describe differential mortality rates. Using data from 986 Filipino women who had an average of 4.8 live births, a LISREL and six sets of regression models support the hypothesis that fertility is linked to underinvestment and that mortality, as a consequence, is linked to high birth order. The analysis also identifies intervening factors associated with this relationship. Age of mother at childbirth showed a strong influence on the relationship of birth order and infant and child mortality; correlations are stronger among older than youger mothers. However, even after the effect of age of mother at childbirth was partialled out, the effect of birth order on infant and child mortality remained significant and substantial. The conclusion is that parental underinvestment represents a link between fertility and mortality during infancy and early childhood that has not been described previously. Policy makers appear to have overlooked parental underinvestment in favor of more obvious economic and health mediators.     

Entering first union: the choice between cohabitation and marriage among women in Italy and Spain

While in Spain and Italy cohabitation has not acquired the same role that it has had in Northern Europe, in both of these Mediterranean countries cohabitation is no longer a marginal phenomenon. Moreover, the nature of cohabiting couples is diverse. According to the most recent FFS data, first cohabitations constitute a temporary arrangement that usually ends in the formalization of the union (marriage), and within 5 years 28.9 % of first cohabitations in Spain and 51.7 % in Italy were transformed into marriages. Within a Western context of changes in union formation patterns, the study of the choice between marriage and cohabitation as first union is of great significance. Is it possible to identify a shared pattern of union formation in Mediterranean countries like Italy and Spain? The purpose of this paper is to examine the choice between cohabitation and marriage as first union (timing, incidence and determinants) using a comparative life course approach. For the analysis of the timing and prevalence, cumulative incidence curves are calculated by birth cohorts and regions; while two semiparametric competing-risks models are estimated for the determinants of first partnership formation (one for each country), considering birth cohort, parental separation, educational attainment, employment status, age at leaving the parental home and birth of a child (the last three time-varying) as independent variables.     

Users Beware: Variable Effects of Parenthood on Happiness Within and Across International Datasets

Researchers have begun assessing differences in well-being among parents versus non-parents using a cross-national comparative approach. Given the availability of multiple major datasets, a systematic methodological study isolating the effects of data choice would be helpful. To accomplish this objective, we draw upon two major datasets (European Social Survey and International Social Survey Programme) and we devise and implement a uniquely controlled method on five fronts by holding time, outcome measurement, parenthood operationalization, geographic sampling, and set of covariates constant. Our design features four distinct observations for each of 11 European countries (two from the 2006 and 2008 ESS, two from the 2007 and 2008 ISSP; 44 cross sections, N = 57,539). Employing both fixed- and random-effects approaches, we demonstrate that choice of major dataset (ISSP or ESS) and choice between contemporaneous cross-sections both contribute strikingly to the estimates of parenthood on happiness. In fact, effect variances at the cross-sectional, dataset and country levels are all significant and are not statistically different. We conclude by discussing several limitations of our analyses and implications for parenthood researchers.     

(Home-)Schools of Democracy? On the Intergenerational Transmission of Civic Engagement

Where do individuals learn civic engagement? While voluntary associations are often seen as the breeding grounds for democratic skills and virtues, many preferences are learned by children in their family and thus passed on between generations. The present paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008) for the UK to analyze the intergenerational transmission of civic engagement and political participation preferences. It finds that both voluntary associational count variables as well as frequency and strength measures of doing volunteer work and political party support are correlated between parents and their grown up children (i.e. after leaving the parental household), even when controlling for resources like socio-economic background. The intergenerational transmission is more pronounced with regard to triggering filial civic engagement, but frequency of parental engagement is less strongly transmitted. A robustness analysis suggests that peer influences (as measured by regional levels of civic engagement) do not drive the intergenerational transmission of civic engagement.

     

How Bullying Involvement is Associated with the Distribution of Parental Background and With Subjective Health Complaints Among Swedish Boys and Girls

This study aimed to analyze how bullying involvement is associated with the distribution of parental background and with subjective health complaints (SHC) among Swedish boys and girls. Data were collected from the World Health Organization, Health Behavior in School-aged Children (WHO/HBSC) survey, measurement years 1997/1998, 2001/2002 and 2005/2006. A total of 11,972 boys (50.6 %) and girls (49.4 %) in grades five, seven and nine participated in the study. The adolescents were categorized in subgroups according to parental background: Swedish (80.1 %), mixed (10.5 %) and foreign (9.7 %). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate remaining risk of SHC in the categories of bullying involvement. The frequencies of bullying involvement once or more were: none involved (74.8 %), victims (10.6 %), bullies (10.3 %) and bully/victims (4.4 %). Six out of ten involved in bullying were boys. Boys of foreign background were more involved as bullies compared to boys of mixed or Swedish background. Girls of foreign background were more involved in all three categories of bullying than girls of mixed or Swedish background. Increased risk of SHC was estimated among all adolescents involved in bullying, with highest OR in the category of bully/victims, OR 3.95 (CI 3.13–4.97) for the boys and OR 4.51 (CI 4.51–6.40) for the girls. The multivariate models were stable even after adjustment for socio-demographics. There are some associations between bullying involvement and parental background. Regardless of parental background, family affluence, family structure and gender, all adolescents involved in bullying are at increased risk of SHC.     

New realities of the American family

The demographic, social, and economic characteristics of American families have changed dramatically over the past few decades. While the male breadwinner/female homemaker model was long traditionally typical,l contemporary families may be openly made up of single-parents, remarried couples, unmarried couples, stepfamilies, foster families, extended or multigenerational families, or 2 families within 1 household. Families are now most likely to have 3 or fewer children, a mother employed outside of the home, and a 50% chance of parental divorce before the children are grown. These trends are common not only in America, but in most industrialized nations around the world. In fact, family trends are so fluid that the US Census Bureau and workplace policy find it difficult to keep pace. This report presents and discusses social and demographic trends behind the ever-changing face of the American family. Households and types of families are further defined, as are the living arrangements of children, young adults, and the elderly. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage trends, age at marriage rates, and interracial marriage are then discussed. Next examined are declining family size, teenage parents, contraception and abortion, unwed mothers, and technological routes to parenthood. The changing roles of family members and family economic well-being are discussed in sections preceding closing comments on the outlook for the American family.     

Parenthood and Happiness: a Review of Folk Theories Versus Empirical Evidence

This paper reviews and compares folk theories and empirical evidence about the influence of parenthood on happiness and life satisfaction. The review of attitudes toward parenthood and childlessness reveals that people tend to believe that parenthood is central to a meaningful and fulfilling life, and that the lives of childless people are emptier, less rewarding, and lonelier, than the lives of parents. Most cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence suggest, however, that people are better off without having children. It is mainly children living at home that interfere with well-being, particularly among women, singles, lower socioeconomic strata, and people residing in less pronatalist societies??especially when these characteristics are combined. The discrepancy between beliefs and findings is discussed in relation to the various costs of parenting; the advantages of childlessness; adaptation and compensation among involuntarily childless persons; cognitive biases; and the possibility that parenthood confers rewards in terms of meaning rather than happiness.