Abstract
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.
The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
References
Bergen, E. 1988. Dinner, Dishes, Diapers: The Social and Economic Context of Domestic Labor. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Brown University, Dept. of Sociology.
Bianchi, S. M. 1987. Living at Home: Young Adults' Living Arrangements in the 1980s. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, Chicago.
Burch, T., and B. Mathews. 1987. Household formation in developed countries. Population and Development Review 13:495-511.
DaVanzo, J., and F. Goldscheider. In press. Coming home again: Returns to the nest in young adulthood. Population Studies 44.
DaVanzo, J., & Morrison, P. (
1982
). Migration Sequences: Who Moves Back and Who Moves On?
. Santa Monica, Calif.
: Rand Corporation
.Easterlin, R. A. (
1987
). The new age structure of poverty in America: Permanent or transient?
. Population and Development Review
, 13
, 195
–208
. 10.2307/1973191Glick, P., & Lin, S.-L. (
1986
). More young adults are living with parents: Who are they?
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 48
, 107
–112
. 10.2307/352233Goldscheider, C., & Goldscheider, F. (
1987
). Moving out and marriage: What do young adults expect?
. American Sociological Review
, 52
, 278
–285
. 10.2307/2095455Goldscheider, F. (
1985
). Cross-validating Longitudinal Data From National Prospective Surveys: An Evaluation of Life Cycle Measures
. Santa Monica, Calif.
: Rand Corporation
.Goldscheider, F., & DaVanzo, J. (
1985
). Living arrangements and the transition to adulthood
. Demography
, 22
, 545
–563
. 10.2307/2061587Goldscheider, F. (
1986
). Semiautonomy and leaving home in early adulthood
. Social Forces
, 65
, 187
–201
. 10.2307/2578942Goldscheider, F., & LeBourdais, C. (
1986
). The falling age at leaving home, 1920–1979
. Sociology and Social Research
, 70
, 99
–102
.Goldscheider, F., & Waite, L. J. (
1986
). Sex differences in the entry into marriage
. American Journal of Sociology
, 92
, 91
–109
. 10.1086/228464Haggstrom, G. (
1983
). Logistic regression and discriminant analysis by ordinary least squares
. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics
, 1
, 229
–238
. 10.2307/1391344Heer, D. M., Hodge, R. W., & Felson, M. (
1985
). The cluttered nest: Evidence that young adults are more likely to live at home now than in the recent past
. Sociology and Social Research
, 69
, 436
–441
.Hill, D., & Hill, M. S. (
1976
). Older children and splitting off. Ch. 4
. In Duncan, G. (Ed.), Five Thousand American Families—Patterns of Economic Progress
. Ann Arbor
: University of Michigan
.Hill, M. S. 1977. The Decision of Young Adults to Split-Off From Their Parents' Household. Unpublished Ph.D.
Hogan, D. (
1981
). Transitions and Social Change: The Early Lives of American Men
. New York
: Academic Press
.Hsu, F. L. K. (
1943
). The myth of Chinese family size
. American Journal of Sociology
, 48
, 555
–562
. 10.1086/219243Jacobsen, L., and F. Pampel. 1987. Living Alone in the United States, 1940–1980: A Test of Competing Explanations. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Chicago.
Kasarda, J. (
1976
). The changing occupational structure of the American metropolis apropos the urban problem
. In Schwartz, B. (Ed.), The Changing Face of the Suburbs
(pp. 113
–136
). Chicago
: University of Chicago Press
.Katz, M. (
1975
). The People of Hamilton, Canada West
. Cambridge, Mass.
: Harvard University Press
.Kett, J. F. (
1977
). Rites of Passage: Adolescence in America, 1790 to the Present
. New York
: Basic Books
.Kobrin, F. E. (
1976
). The primary individual and the family: Changes in living arrangements since 1940
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 38
, 233
–239
. 10.2307/350383Kobrin, F. E. (
1981
). High School Seniors and High School Dropouts: An Evaluation of Life Cycle Bias in the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, Technical Report N-1710-N1CHD
. Santa Monica, Calif.
: Rand Corporation
.Kojima, H. 1987. Parent-Child Coresidence in the Japanese Household. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting
Kuznets, S. (
1978
). Size and age structure of family households: Exploratory comparisons
. Population and Development Review
, 4
, 187
–233
. 10.2307/1972278Lam, D. 1983. Household Size, Dependency Ratios, and the Family Life Cycle in Guatemala: An Economic
Laslett, B. (
1973
). The family as a public and private institution: An historical perspective
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 35
, 480
–494
. 10.2307/350583MacDonald, M. M., & Rindfuss, R. R. (
1981
). Earnings, relative income, and family formation
. Demography
, 18
, 123
–136
. 10.2307/2061088Mare, R., Winship, C., & Kubitschek, W. N. (
1984
). The transition from youth to adult: Understanding the age pattern of employment
. American Journal of Sociology
, 92
, 326
–358
. 10.1086/228082Marini, M. M. (
1978
). The transition to adulthood: Sex differences in educational attainment and age at marriage
. American Sociological Review
, 43
, 483
–507
. 10.2307/2094774Masnick, G., and J. R. Pitkin. 1983. The Baby Boom and the Squeeze on Multigenerational Households. Paper
Mayer, K. 1984. The Process of Leaving Home: A Comparison of Three Cohorts in West Germany. Paper
McElroy, M. B. (
1985
). The joint determination of household membership and market work: The case of young men
. Journal of Labor Economics
, 3
, 293
–316
. 10.1086/298057Menchik, M., & Witsberger, C. (
1983
). How Working Wives Affect Families' Migration and Divorce Decisions, Technical Report N-2019-NICHD
. Santa Monica, Calif.
: Rand Corporation
.Michael, R. T., Fuchs, V. R., & Scott, S. R. (
1980
). Changes in the propensity to live alone: 1950-1976
. Demography
, 17
, 39
–53
. 10.2307/2060962Michael, R. T., & Tuma, N. B. (
1985
). Entry into marriage and parenthood by young men and women
. Demography
, 22
, 515
–544
. 10.2307/2061586Mincer, J. (
1978
). Family migration decisions
. Journal of Political Economy
, 86
, 749
–773
. 10.1086/260710Modell, J., & Hareven, T. (
1973
). Modernization and the malleable household: An examination of boarding and lodging in American families
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 35
, 467
–479
. 10.2307/350582Osterud, N. G. 1980. Sons, Daughters, and the Household Economy: Generational Relationships and Economic
Pampel, F. C. (
1983
). Changes in the propensity to live alone: Evidence from consecutive cross-sectional surveys, 1960–1976
. Demography
, 20
, 433
–447
. 10.2307/2061112Preston, S. H., & Richards, A. T. (
1975
). The influence of women's work opportunities on marriage rates
. Demography
, 12
, 209
–222
. 10.2307/2060761Riccobono, J., Henderson, L. B., Burkheimer, G. J., Place, C., & Levinsohn, J. R. (
1981
). National Longitudinal Study: Base Year (1972) Through Fourth Follow-up (1979) Data File Users Manual
. Research Triangle Park, N.C.
: Research Triangle Institute
.Rogers, W., & Thornton, A. (
1985
). Changing patterns of first marriage in the United States
. Demography
, 22
, 265
–279
. 10.2307/2061181Saluter, A. F. (
1983
). Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1983
. Washington, D.C
: U.S. Government Printing Office
.Speare, A., & Goldscheider, F. (
1987
). The effects of marital status change on residential mobility
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 49
, 455
–464
. 10.2307/352314Tienda, M., & Angel, R. (
1982
). Headship and household composition among blacks, Hispanics and other whites
. Social Forces
, 61
, 508
–553
. 10.2307/2578239Estimates and Projections of the Number of Households by Country, 1975–2000
. (1981
). New York
: United Nations
.White, L., & Brinkerhoff, D. (
1981
). Children's work in the family: Its significance and meaning
. Journal of Marriage and the Family
, 43
, 789
–798
. 10.2307/351336Winsborough, H. (
1978
). Statistical histories of the life cycle of birth cohorts: The transition from school boy to adult male
. In Taeuber, K., Bumpass, L., & Sweet, J. (Eds.), Social Demography
(pp. 231
–259
). New York
: Academic Press
.Young, C. (
1987
). Young People Leaving Home in Australia: The Trend Toward Independence
. Canberra, Australia
: Australian National University Press
.Zeng, Y., and A. Coale. 1987. Single-Year Age-Specific Rates of Leaving the Parental Home, the United States (1950–1980), Sweden (1960–1980), France (1962–1975). Unpublished manuscript, Princeton University.
© Population Association of America 1989
1989
