Changes in the Living Arrangements of Young Adults in Britain During the 1980s

Abstract

Factors affecting the living arrangements of young adults are reviewed. Changes in the proportions of young adults living outside the parental home during the 1980s in Britain are analysed using data from the Labour Force Survey (16–29-year-olds: 1981, N = 45,253; 1989, N = 31,322). Teenagers have shown an increased tendency to live away from their parents, whereas the position was reversed for those in their mid- to late 20s. Whilst socio-economic differentials in the proportions of young adults living outside the parental home were surprisingly small, there is some evidence that, during the 1980s, economically disadvantages groups have been particularly affected. The relatively modest overall change in the proportions living away from home masks more pervasive changes in the types of living arrangement experienced on leaving home. A series of multivariate logistic analyses with three alternative states; living in the parental home, in a new family, not in a family were performed. Clear socio-economic differentials in the propensity to live outside the parental home in these alternative arrangements were found. Whilst the propensity to live outside the parental home in a new family declined over the decade, the propensity to be living independently increased. It is concluded that the simple variable of remaining in or leaving the parental home is not the key variable of interest for analysis of life-course mobility of young people, rather it is the set of options available on leaving home which forms the appropriate framework for analysing patterns of living arrangements and their changes in the 1980s.