Abstract
The timing with which young people leave their parents' home is a critical element in household formation rates. Direct data on this transition are scarce. Information on the current living arrangements of 16–24 year-olds collected in a 1982 EEC Survey provides some insights. The data suggest quite large cross-national variations in the timing of leaving home and particularly marked differences in the living arrangements of young people. Reasons for the variation, particularly housing-market differences, are postulated.
Résumé
L'âge auquel les enfants quittent le foyer de leurs parents est un élément essentiel du processus de formation des ménages. Les données portant directement sur cette transition sont rares. Les renseignements sur la situation familiale des jeunes de 16 à 24 ans, recueillis par une enquête de la Commission des Communautés Européennes en 1982, fournissent quelques aperçus. Ils indiquent de très grands écarts entre pays quant à l'âge auquel les enfants partent, et des différences particulièrement marquées quant à la nouvelle situation familiale des jeunes. L'auteur suggère quelques explications de ces différences, comme le rôle du marché du logement.
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Acknowledgements: Thanks are due to the Economic and Social Research Council for financial support (this paper was prepared at the Centre for Population Studies, LSHTM, which is a Designated Research Centre of the ESRC), the ESRC data archive at Essex University for providing a copy of Eurobarometer 17, and the Commission of the European Communities for making the data available for further analyses. Sole responsibility for this study lies with the author. The helpful advice of the editor is gratefully acknowledged.
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Kiernan, K. Leaving home: Living arrangements of young people in six west-European countries. Eur J Population 2, 177–184 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796889
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796889