Homeleaving age norms: conflict or consensus?
While research attention has been directed to the normative timing aspects of some family transitions, little work on homeleaving has been undertaken. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with one child and one parent in 218 families in which the adult child has/had returned home (boomerang families) and 202 families in which the adult child has remained independently "launched," this article examines a number of aspects of norms regarding the appropriate timing of homeleaving. The following issues are examined: the degree of overall consensus regarding homeleaving age norms; variations by generation and by family type; factors viewed as conditioning the normative age at homeleaving; and perceptions regarding social approval/disapproval of young adults living at home. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical issues in the life course perspective regarding age norms.
Veevers
J E
JE
University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Gee
E M
EM
Wister
A V
AV
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012938:Social Perception