| Abstract: | Abstract Using the 1988 and 1992 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), this study examines whether the expectation of support by young adults is widely held and if such a belief predicts if young adults will at some point live with their parents before their final launch. At issue is whether or not the increase in young adults in the parental home represents a normative shift in the expectations that children have of their parents or perhaps is indicative of some other process. The findings suggest that expectation of support does in fact predict living at home but only 31% of the respondents felt that parents were obligated to let their adult children live with them. Findings are placed within a broader context of how shifts in age at first marriage and educational attainment influence young adults' transitions out of the home. |
