Leaving home, moving to college, and returning home: Economic outcomes in the United States

Leaving the parental home is a milestone in the transition to adulthood. Historical changes in leaving home have been well documented in the literature. However, research investigating the consequences associated with the timing and pathway of leaving (and returning) home is still scant. Building mainly on capital accumulation and life course theories, we analyse data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 on young Americans born between 1980 and 1984, who are 27–31 years old in 2011. We find an M-shaped relationship between age at leaving home and working and economic conditions later on: Leaving “too early,” “too late,” or at nonnormative ages is negatively associated with labour market outcomes. Also, among those who have been enrolled in college, leaving home to go to college, during college, or after college is positively associated with subsequent income, compared with leaving before college. Moving back in with parents is negatively associated with economic outcomes.