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Gender, Turning Points, and Boomerangs: Returning Home in Young Adulthood in Great Britain

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  • Juliet Stone
  • Ann Berrington
  • Jane Falkingham

Abstract

The idea of a generation of young adults “boomeranging” back to the parental home has gained widespread currency in the British popular press. However, there is little empirical research identifying either increasing rates of returning home or the factors associated with this trend. This article addresses this gap in the literature using data from a long-running household panel survey to examine the occurrence and determinants of returning to the parental home. We take advantage of the longitudinal design of the British Household Panel Survey (1991–2008) and situate returning home in the context of other life-course transitions. We demonstrate how turning points in an individual’s life course—such as leaving full-time education, unemployment, or partnership dissolution—are key determinants of returning home. An increasingly unpredictable labor market means that employment cannot be taken for granted following university graduation, and returning home upon completion of higher education is becoming normative. We also find that gender moderates the relationship among partnership dissolution, parenthood, and returning to the parental home, reflecting the differential welfare support in Great Britain for single parents compared with nonresident fathers and childless young adults. Copyright The Author(s) 2014

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:1:p:257-276
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0247-8
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    1. Yue Chen & Jianqiang Yang, 2018. "The Chinese Socio-Cultural Sustainability Approach: The Impact of Conservation Planning on Local Population and Residential Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    2. Kim Mckee & Tom Moore & Adriana Soaita & Joe Crawford, 2017. "‘Generation Rent’ and The Fallacy of Choice," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 318-333, March.
    3. Francesca Fiori, 2019. "Who leaves, who stays? Gendered routes out of the family home following union dissolution in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(20), pages 533-560.
    4. Júlia Mikolai & Hill Kulu & Clara Mulder, 2020. "Family life transitions, residential relocations, and housing in the life course: Current research and opportunities for future work: Introduction to the Special Collection on “Separation, Divorce, an," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(2), pages 35-58.
    5. Aude Bernard & Alina Pelikh, 2019. "Distinguishing tempo and ageing effects in migration," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(44), pages 1291-1322.
    6. 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.
    7. Marco Tosi & Marco Albertini, 2019. "Does Children’s Union Dissolution Hurt Elderly Parents? Linked Lives, Divorce and Mental Health in Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(4), pages 695-717, October.
    8. Jennifer Hoolachan & Kim McKee, 2019. "Inter-generational housing inequalities: ‘Baby Boomers’ versus the ‘Millennials’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 210-225, January.
    9. Lusi Liao & Sasiwimon Warunsiri Paweenawat, 2022. "Alternative boomerang kids, intergenerational co-residence, and maternal labor supply," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 609-634, June.
    10. Anna Clarke, 2016. "The Prevalence of Rough Sleeping and Sofa Surfing Amongst Young People in the UK," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 60-72.
    11. Rory Coulter & Michael Thomas, 2019. "A new look at the housing antecedents of separation," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(26), pages 725-760.
    12. Ernestina Coast & Alex Fanghanel & Eva Lelièvre & Sara Randall, 2016. "Counting the Population or Describing Society? A Comparison of English and Welsh and French Censuses," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(2), pages 165-188, May.
    13. Ian Cole & Ryan Powell & Elizabeth Sanderson, 2016. "Putting the Squeeze on ‘Generation Rent’: Housing Benefit Claimants in the Private Rented Sector - Transitions, Marginality and Stigmatisation," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 21(2), pages 23-36, May.
    14. Katrin Schwanitz & Clara 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.
    15. Lívia Murinkó, 2019. "Housing consequences of divorce and separation in a 'super home ownership' regime: The case of Hungary," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(34), pages 975-1014.
    16. Richard Preetz & Julius Greifenberg & Julika Hülsemann & Andreas Filser, 2022. "Moving Back to the Parental Home in Times of COVID-19: Consequences for Students’ Life Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Tosi, Marco & Grundy, Emily, 2018. "Returns home by children and changes in parents’ well-being in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 99-106.
    18. Hill Kulu & Júlia Mikolai & Michael J. Thomas & Sergi Vidal & Christine Schnor & Didier Willaert & Fieke H. L. Visser & Clara H. Mulder, 2021. "Separation and Elevated Residential Mobility: A Cross-Country Comparison," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 121-150, March.
    19. Elyse Warner & Claire Henderson-Wilson & Fiona Andrews, 2017. "“It’s Give and Take”: Australian Families’ Experiences of Negotiating Financial and Domestic Contributions When Young Adults Return Home," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 541-555, December.
    20. Viviana Amati & Giulia Rivellini & Susanna Zaccarin, 2015. "Potential and Effective Support Networks of Young Italian Adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 807-831, July.
    21. Lei Lei & Scott South, 2016. "Racial and ethnic differences in leaving and returning to the parental home," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(4), pages 109-142.
    22. Brian Joseph Gillespie & Clara H. Mulder & Christiane Reichert, 2022. "The Role of Family and Friends in Return Migration and Its Labor Market Outcomes," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(1), pages 115-138, February.
    23. Jenny Olofsson & Erika Sandow & Allan Findlay & Gunnar Malmberg, 2020. "Boomerang Behaviour and Emerging Adulthood: Moving Back to the Parental Home and the Parental Neighbourhood in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(5), pages 919-945, November.

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