Economic precariousness and leaving the parental home

Peter Tammes, University of Southampton
Steven Roberts, University of Kent
Ann M. Berrington, University of Southampton

The housing and family transitions of young adults in the UK have been affected by recent increases in housing costs, economic uncertainty, and reductions in welfare support. Although these changes affect all young adults’ transitions to residential independence, those in economically precarious situations are particularly affected. In this paper we operationalize different dimensions of economic precariousness; employment status, contract type and duration, income, and occupational class. These measures are used to examine how types of economic precariousness relate to living arrangements in 2009/10, and to the likelihood of making the transition out of the parental home in subsequent waves. Secondary analyses of the first two waves of UK Household Longitudinal Survey are used to follow young adults aged 18-24 to investigate the following research questions: Are economically precarious young adults more likely to be living in the parental home in 2009-10? Among those living at home, is economical precariousness associated with leaving the parental home in the subsequent year? Our preliminary findings show that distinguishing different types of economic precariousness is important. Different indicators of economic precariousness show varying associations with the likelihood of leaving home, and the relative importance of these indicators changes according to gender.