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Leaving Home for College and Gaining Independence

Author

Listed:
  • Clara H Mulder

    (University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, NL-1018 VZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • William A V Clark

    (University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Geography, 1255 Bunche Hall, Box 951524, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, USA)

Abstract

As more and more young US adults attend college it has become an increasingly important filter in the process of becoming an independent household. Now for a large number of young adults living in the USA, living away at college is a first step in the process of gaining residential and economic independence. We analyze leaving home to go to college, the choice between returning home and becoming independent after living away at college, and the influence of experience with living away at college on becoming an independent household. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and multilevel event-history and logistic-regression models to show that the likelihood of leaving home for college is positively affected by the father's education and the parental income. Unlike in previous research, we find evidence for the ‘feathered-nest’ hypothesis, in that the likelihood of returning home increases with parental income.

Suggested Citation

  • Clara H Mulder & William A V Clark, 2002. "Leaving Home for College and Gaining Independence," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(6), pages 981-999, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:34:y:2002:i:6:p:981-999
    DOI: 10.1068/a34149
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mike Murphy & Duolao Wang, 1998. "Family and sociodemographic influences on patterns of leaving home in Postwar Britain," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(3), pages 293-305, August.
    2. William A V Clark & Clara H Mulder, 2000. "Leaving Home and Entering the Housing Market," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(9), pages 1657-1671, September.
    3. Leslie Whittington & H. Elizabeth Peters, 1996. "Economic incentives for financial and residential independence," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(1), pages 82-97, February.
    4. Roger Avery & Frances Goldscheider & Alden Speare, 1992. "Feathered nest/gilded cage: Parental income and leaving home in the transition to adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 29(3), pages 375-388, August.
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    2. Juliet Stone & Ann Berrington & Jane Falkingham, 2014. "Gender, Turning Points, and Boomerangs: Returning Home in Young Adulthood in Great Britain," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 257-276, February.
    3. Thomas Niedomysl, 2008. "Residential Preferences for Interregional Migration in Sweden: Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Geographical Determinants," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(5), pages 1109-1131, May.
    4. Katrin Schwanitz & Clara H. Mulder & Laurent Toulemon, 2017. "Differences in leaving home by individual and parental education among young adults in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(63), pages 1975-2010.
    5. Carla Sá & Raymond Florax & Piet Rietveld, 2007. "Living-arrangement and university decisions of Dutch young adults," NIPE Working Papers 14/2007, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    6. Clara H. Mulder, 2013. "Family dynamics and housing," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(14), pages 355-378.
    7. Frances Goldscheider & Sandra Hofferth & Sally Curtin, 2014. "Parenthood and Leaving Home in Young Adulthood," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(6), pages 771-796, December.
    8. Arnstein Aassve & Bruno Arpino & Francesco C Billari, 2013. "Age Norms on Leaving Home: Multilevel Evidence from the European Social Survey," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(2), pages 383-401, February.
    9. Aude Bernard & Martin Bell & Elin Charles-Edwards, 2016. "Internal migration age patterns and the transition to adulthood: Australia and Great Britain compared," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 123-146, June.
    10. Ilya Kashnitsky & Nikita Mkrtchyan & Oleg Leshukov, 2016. "Interregional Migration of Youths in Russia: A Comprehensive Analysis of Demographic Statistics," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 169-203.
    11. Drew Allen & Gregory C. Wolniak, 2019. "Exploring the Effects of Tuition Increases on Racial/Ethnic Diversity at Public Colleges and Universities," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(1), pages 18-43, February.
    12. Glen Bramley & Tony Champion & Tania Fisher, 2006. "Exploring the Household Impacts of Migration in Britain Using Panel Survey Data," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(8), pages 907-926.

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