Volume 7 - Article 17 | Pages 565–592
A comparative analysis of leaving home in the United States, the Netherlands and West Germany
| Date received: | 03 Sep 2002 |
| Date published: | 11 Dec 2002 |
| Word count: | 7660 |
| Keywords: | Germany, household, leaving the parental home, Netherlands, union formation, United States of America |
| 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 H. Mulder - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the Netherlands
William A.V. Clark - University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America
Michael Wagner - Universität zu Köln, Germany
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