Into the Red and Back to the Nest? Student Debt, College Completion, and Returning to the Parental Home among Young Adults

Abstract

Rising student debt has sparked concerns about its impact on the transition to adulthood. In this paper, we examine the claim that student debt is leading to a rise in “boomeranging”, or returning home, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort and discrete time event history models. We have four findings. First, student loan debt is not associated with boomeranging in the complete sample. However, we find that the association differs by race, such that the link between student debt and returning home is stronger for black than white youth. Third, degree completion is a strong predictor of returning home, whereby those who fail to attain a degree have an increased risk of boomeranging. Fourth, young adult role transitions and socioeconomic well-being are associated with boomeranging. Findings suggest that rising debt has created new risks, and may reproduce social inequalities in the transition to adulthood.

Leaving Home, Entering Institutions: Implications for Home-Leaving in the Transition to Adulthood

“…This research finds that Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged young are more likely to be living with parents in adulthood and likely to be leaving the parental home later than their White and more advantaged peers (e.g. Britton 2013;Houle and Warner 2017;Lei and South 2016;Sandberg-Thoma et al 2015;Treas and Batalova 2011;White 1994).…”

“…Dey and Pierret 2014), the timing of this departure varies across social groups (Furstenberg et al 2004;Settersten and Ray 2010). Further, there have been increases in the rates of returns and repeat departures out of the parental home, a phenomenon or process often referenced as "boomeranging," of particular interest with the constraints felt by young adults facing expanding student debt burdens and the fallout of the Great Recession (Houle and Warner 2017;Sandberg-Thoma, Snyder, and Jang 2015;Wiemers 2014). This research finds that Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged young are more likely to be living with parents in adulthood and likely to be leaving the parental home later than their White and more advantaged peers (e.g.…”

“…Buck and Scott 1993) to broader ones that include temporary or "semiindependent" states of departure such as leaving for college or to live with non-romantic, nonfamilial roommates (e.g. Goldscheider and DaVanzo 1989;Houle and Warner 2017). Our definitions and descriptions of parental co-residence, therefore, implicitly reflect our ideas of what it means to be an adult and the roles and living arrangements that are reflective of this "status."…”

Leaving Home, Entering Institutions: Implications for Home‐Leaving in the Transition to Adulthood

“…Taken together, this literature finds that most young adults have left the parental home at least once (e.g., Dey & Pierret, ) but that the timing of this departure varies (Furstenberg et al, ; Settersten & Ray, ). Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged young adults are more likely to be living with parents and to leave the parental home later than their White, more advantaged peers (e.g., Britton, ; Houle & Warner, ; Lei & South, ; Sandberg‐Thoma, Snyder, & Jang, ). In addition, young adults are leaving the parental home later and returning at higher rates, although most consider home‐leaving a key milestone for adulthood (Furstenberg et al, ; Sandberg‐Thoma et al, ).…”

“…Beginning in the 1970s, home‐leaving grew increasingly associated with nonmarital events—such as labor force entry and nonmarital cohabitation—motivating an updated exploration of the precipitating events and conditions around departures from the parental home (e.g., Goldscheider & Goldscheider, ; Kahn, García‐Manglano, & Goldscheider, ). Contemporary definitions of what constitutes a departure from the parental home range from stricter definitions that equate it with the establishment of an independent residence (e.g., Buck & Scott, ) to broader definitions that include temporary or “semi‐independent” transitions such as leaving for college or to live with roommates (e.g., Goldscheider & DaVanzo, ; Houle & Warner, ).…”