Door always open? New insights into the dynamics of returning home
Day two of the conference and today it was the turn of Prof. Ann Berrington from the University of Southampton to provide the keynote.
In her talk, Ann showed how panel data from BHPS and UKHLS provide fascinating insights into the dynamics of leaving and returning to the parental home. She showed how the transition to residential independence is often non-linear, with young adults often returning home following an initial departure.
Transition factors
Returning home is often precipitated by life course events including finishing full-time education, losing your job, or experiencing partner dissolution. Ann and her co-author Juliet Stone have just published a new CPC briefing paper outlining a future research agenda for studies of young adults’ transitions to residential independence.
- Read the outline A future research agenda for studies of young adults’ transitions to residential independence
Prof. Berrington’s research will help us understand:
- Are more young adults living with their parents?
- Are we becoming like Southern Europe?
- Is it due to more returning – or fewer leaving in the first place?
- Why are more young adults returning home?
- What’s behind the increase of parental co-residence among women in their twenties?
The keynote was very well-received, and followed by an insightful Q&A.