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An ample body of research has shown that young adults from non-intact families are more likely to leave the parental home at an early age than young adults from intact families. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. We drew on prospective longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) to examine why young adults from non-intact families are more likely to leave home early. Based on the feathered nest hypothesis, it was expected that young adults from non-intact families are pushed out of the parental home because of a lack in economic, social, and community resources. Moreover, it was expected that young adults from non-intact families are pulled toward independent living at a younger age because they have a partner and are employed earlier in life. We employed discrete-time event history models and used the KHB method to test relative weights of the mediators. The mediators explained 16% (women) and 22% (men) of the effect of living in a stepfamily, and 50% (women) and 37% (men) of the effect of living in a single-mother family. Economic resources were the main mediator for the effect of living in a single-mother family on early home leaving. For women, mother’s life satisfaction and housing conditions significantly explained differences in early home leaving between single-mother and intact families. For men, residential mobility significantly mediated the effect of family structure on early home leaving.

Objective This study offers a new approach to off‐time transitions and applies it to the link between leaving and returning home. Background It is no longer uncommon for young adults to return after having left the parental home. Previous research has mostly examined returning home in isolation from leaving home, although these two transitions are closely intertwined. Method Using longitudinal data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel Study, the authors examine the link between leaving and returning home in a two‐step model. The model captures home leaving in a selection model and links off‐time leaving to the subsequent risk of returning home. This measure of off‐time leaving is sensitive to specific individual circumstances. Results The findings show that the new measure of off‐time leaving is a better predictor for returning home than age at leaving home. Young adults who leave home more off‐time are more likely to return home. Experiences after leaving home significantly mediate part, but not all of the effect of off‐time home leaving on returning home. Conclusion The processes of leaving and returning home are linked: Off‐time time home leavers are more likely to return home than on‐time leavers. Implications The findings contribute to research on returning home and the life course by demonstrating the importance of previous transitions. The new measure of off‐time transitions could also be applied to other life course outcomes.

There are large cross‐national differences in the age of leaving home. The literature offers cultural, economic, and institutional explanations for these differences but has not examined all three explanations in one study. We examine these three explanations using data of the European Social Survey (ESS) from 2002 to 2016, supplemented with year‐specific macro‐level indicators from other data sources. We use a dynamic pseudo‐panel design, allowing us to track the home‐leaving behaviour of cohorts born between 1970 and 1999 in 22 European countries. Our findings show that the three sets of explanations are additive rather than competing, each explaining some of the cross‐national differences in leaving home. The cultural context forms the most important explanation for the cross‐national variation. In total, we explain 80% of cross‐national variation in leaving home. Important predictors are religiosity, individualistic family values, change in youth unemployment, GDP and the net replacement rate.

BACKGROUNDUniversities are described as "waiting halls" for union formation. However, little is known about the size of the educational gradient in single living after leaving home. OBJECTIVEThis paper examines the educational gradient in single living after leaving home in 30 European countries and the role of gender and the gender climate in each country for this gradient. METHODSI use data from the European Social Survey, supplemented with data from the OECD and European Values Study for the contextual measures. Predicted probabilities for single living are compared across educational groups, genders, and countries. Using random slope models with an interaction between education and the gender climate, I examine whether the educational gradient is larger in less gender-egalitarian countries. RESULTSThe results show, on average, a positive educational gradient in single living after leaving home. However, there is substantial variation in its size. First, the gradient is larger among women. Second, there are cross-national differences in the size of the gradient and gender differences in the gradient. The cross-national variation depends on the gender climate in the country. Among women, the educational gradient is smaller in countries with a higher women's labor force participation. CONCLUSIONThe results show that stratification in single living after leaving home is especially prominent among women in less gender-egalitarian countries. CONTRIBUTIONThe article presents a comprehensive overview of the educational gradient in single living after leaving home by gender and country, demonstrating the importance of the gender climate.