Parenthood and Leaving Home in Young Adulthood

Fran Goldscheider, University of Maryland

With the rise in non-marital fertility in the late 20th century, the sequencing of transitions in early adulthood has become increasingly complex. Many young adults become parents before union formation, often before leaving home. We use the Young Adult Sample, children of women in NLSY79. The effect of having a child was approximately proportional between ages 15 and 28. Parenthood encouraged leaving home between 14 and 28 overall, and to each ‘child’ living arrangement (with or without a partner) while it reduced the speed young adults leave home to a child-free living arrangement. However, becoming a parent does not have a negative effect on men’s leaving home to live with a (new) partner with no children present, unlike the case for women. Further, becoming a parent has a much less negative effect on men’s leaving home to live in non-family residential independence than it does for women.