Volume 7 - Article 17 | Pages 565-592

A comparative analysis of leaving home in the United States, the Netherlands and West Germany

By Clara Mulder, William A.V. Clark, Michael Wagner


Date received:	03 Sep 2002
Date published:	11 Dec 2002
Word count:	7660
Keywords:	Germany, household, leaving the parental home, Netherlands, union formation, USA
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2002.7.17

Abstract

We investigate how leaving the parental home differs between three countries with different welfare-state and housing systems: the USA, the Netherlands and West Germany. Using longitudinal survey data, we examine the transitions of leaving home to live with and without a partner.
We find that, much more than in the European countries, union formation has become separated from leaving home in the USA. We also find a different impact of level of education and employment status on leaving-home patterns in the European countries with their social-welfare state system than in the US system in which market forces prevail. The differences are not just related to welfare-state systems but also to the sizes of the countries and the geographical dispersion of jobs and educational opportunities.

Author's Affiliation

Clara Mulder - University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Population Research Centre, Netherlands [Email]
William A.V. Clark - University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America [Email]
Michael Wagner - University of Cologne, Germany [Email]