Ages, Reasons and Sex Differences for Children Leaving Home: Observations from Survey Data for Australia

Abstract

From Australian data an investigation is made of the ages at which children leave home, and the socioeconomic and demographic variables which influence these. Particular emphasis is given to the differences in experience between sons and daughters, and between children who leave home for marriage and those who leave -for other reasons. Overall, daughters leave home when about two years younger than sons, and a higher proportion of daughters leave home for marriage than for other reasons compared with sons. For each sex, the average age at leaving home is youngest when the reason for leaving is education or a job, and oldest when the reason is marriage.