IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp7290.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is Leaving Home a Hardship?

Author

Listed:
  • Ribar, David C.

    (Georgia State University)

Abstract

Nest-leaving – the transition of young adults from their parents' homes to other living arrangements – is a major life-course milestone. Although the causes of nest-leaving have been extensively researched, only a few studies have examined the changes in young adults' own assessments of their well-being that immediately precede and follow these transitions. This study uses the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to document the trajectories of financial hardships, food consumption, and other well-being outcomes among Australians who left their parents' homes between the ages of 18 and 25 years. The study estimates multivariate fixed-effects models that compare outcomes before and after nest-leaving transitions to mitigate the effects of confounding characteristics. Men and women report increased financial hardships in the years that they leave home and in the first few years that follow. In particular, men and women both report more frequently going without meals and needing to ask friends and family for financial help. Women additionally report more frequently missing utility and housing payments.

Suggested Citation

  • Ribar, David C., 2013. "Is Leaving Home a Hardship?," IZA Discussion Papers 7290, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp7290.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco C. Billari & Guido Tabellini, 2010. "Italians Are Late: Does It Matter?," NBER Chapters, in: Demography and the Economy, pages 371-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    3. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2000. "Adapting to Circumstances (The Evolution of Work, School,and Living Arrangements among North American Youth)," NBER Chapters, in: Youth Employment and Joblessness in Advanced Countries, pages 171-214, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Markus H. Hahn, 2010. "PanelWhiz: Efficient Data Extraction of Complex Panel Data Sets - An Example Using the German SOEP," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 130(4), pages 643-654.
    5. Deborah Cobb-Clark & David Ribar, 2012. "Financial stress, family relationships, and Australian youths’ transitions from home and school," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 469-490, December.
    6. McElroy, Marjorie B, 1985. "The Joint Determination of Household Membership and Market Work: The Case of Young Men," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 293-316, July.
    7. Gianna Claudia Giannelli & Chiara Monfardini, 2003. "Joint decisions on household membership and human capital accumulation of youths. The role of expected earnings and local markets," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(2), pages 265-285, May.
    8. Arnstein Aassve & Maria A. Davia & Maria Iacovou & Stefano Mazzuco, 2007. "Does Leaving Home Make You Poor? Evidence from 13 European Countries," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 315-338, October.
    9. Lavinia Parisi, 2008. "Leaving Home and the Chances of Being Poor: The Case of Young People in Southern European Countries," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 22(s1), pages 89-114, June.
    10. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2014. "Healthy habits: The connection between diet, exercise, and locus of control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-28.
    11. Marco Manacorda & Enrico Moretti, 2006. "Why do Most Italian Youths Live with Their Parents? Intergenerational Transfers and Household Structure," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(4), pages 800-829, June.
    12. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," IZA Discussion Papers 3309, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Gary Solon & Steven J. Haider & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "What Are We Weighting For?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 301-316.
    14. 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.
    15. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, 2008. "Leaving Home: What Economics Has to Say about the Living Arrangements of Young Australians," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 41(2), pages 160-176, June.
    16. Bhattacharya, Jayanta & Currie, Janet & Haider, Steven, 2004. "Poverty, food insecurity, and nutritional outcomes in children and adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 839-862, July.
    17. Mark R. Rosenzweig & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 1994. "Inequality among Young Adult Siblings, Public Assistance Programs, and Intergenerational Living Arrangements," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(4), pages 1101-1125.
    18. Markus H. Hahn & John P. Haisken-DeNew, 2013. "PanelWhiz and the Australian Longitudinal Data Infrastructure in Economics," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 46(3), pages 379-386, September.
    19. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1993. "Intergenerational Support and the Life-Cycle Incomes of Young Men and Their Parents: Human Capital Investments, Coresidence, and Intergenerational Financial Transfers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 84-112, January.
    20. Ermisch, John, 1999. "Prices, Parents, and Young People's Household Formation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 47-71, January.
    21. 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.
    22. Aslan Zorlu & Clara Mulder, 2011. "Ethnic Differences in Leaving Home: Timing and Pathways," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 49-72, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Botha, Ferdi & Ribar, David C., 2023. "For worse? Financial hardships and intra-household resource allocation among Australian couples," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Mujcic, Redzo, 2014. "Are fruit and vegetables good for our mental and physical health? Panel data evidence from Australia," MPRA Paper 59149, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fernanda Mazzotta & Lavinia Parisi, 2015. "The effect of Employment on Leaving Home in Italy," Discussion Papers 8_2015, CRISEI, University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy.
    2. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Tue Gørgens, 2014. "Parents’ economic support of young-adult children: do socioeconomic circumstances matter?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 447-471, April.
    3. MAZZOTTA, Fernanda & PARISI, Lavinia, 2017. "What are the Role of Economic Factors in Determining Leaving and Returning to the Parental Home in Europe During the Crisis? Technical Details," CELPE Discussion Papers 151, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    4. Sascha Becker & Samuel Bentolila & Ana Fernandes & Andrea Ichino, 2010. "Youth emancipation and perceived job insecurity of parents and children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(3), pages 1047-1071, June.
    5. Francesco C. Billari & Guido Tabellini, 2010. "Italians Are Late: Does It Matter?," NBER Chapters, in: Demography and the Economy, pages 371-412, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Chiuri, Maria Concetta & Del Boca, Daniela, 2008. "Household Membership Decisions of Adult Children," IZA Discussion Papers 3546, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Jordan Matsudaira, 2016. "Economic conditions and the living arrangements of young adults: 1960 to 2011," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 167-195, January.
    8. Rebekka Christopoulou & Maria Pantalidou, 2017. "The parental home as labor market insurance for young Greeks during the crisis," Discussion Paper Series 2017_10, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Oct 2017.
    9. Maria Concetta Chiuri & Daniela Del Boca, 2007. "Living arrangements in Europe: exploring gender differences and institutional characteristics," CHILD Working Papers wp24_07, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    10. Jordan D. Matsudaira, 2016. "Economic conditions and the living arrangements of young adults: 1960 to 2011," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 167-195, January.
    11. Olga Cantó & Inmaculada Cebrián & Gloria Moreno, 2019. "Household precariousness and youth living arrangements in Spain: evidence for a complete business cycle," Working Papers 499, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    12. Viola Angelini & Anne Laferrère, 2013. "Parental altruism and nest leaving in Europe: evidence from a retrospective survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 393-420, September.
    13. Adelaido García-Andrés & Jose N. Martinez & Ernesto Aguayo-Téllez, 2021. "Leaving the Nest or Living with Parents: Evidence from Mexico’s Young Adult Population," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 913-933, September.
    14. Flake, Regina, 2012. "Multigenerational Living Arrangements among Migrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 366, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Maria Chiuri & Daniela Del Boca, 2010. "Home-leaving decisions of daughters and sons," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 393-408, September.
    16. Christopoulou, Rebekka & Pantalidou, Maria, 2022. "The parental home as labor market insurance for young Greeks during the Great Recession," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 313-350, September.
    17. Fernandes Ana & Becker Sascha O & Bentolila Samuel & Ichino Andrea, 2008. "Income Insecurity and Youth Emancipation: A Theoretical Approach," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-42, July.
    18. Sascha O. Becker & Samuel Bentolila & Ana Fernandes & Andrea Ichino, 2004. "Job Insecurity and Children's Emancipation," Working Papers wp2004_0404, CEMFI.
    19. Bentolila, Samuel & Mendez, Ildefonso & Maeso, Francisco, 2015. "Leaving Home with a Partner," CEPR Discussion Papers 10630, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & David C. Ribar, 2009. "Financial Stress, Family Conflict, and Youths’ Successful Transition to Adult Roles," CEPR Discussion Papers 627, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    youths; nest-leaving; financial hardships; nutrition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7290. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.