Changes in returning home in the United States, 1925-1985

Returning home in young adulthood has increased from a rare to a common occ urrence. We eh amine the effects of historical events, such as World War II , and longer-term changes in the attractiveness of the parental feathered n est, family structure, the growth of second-rate jobs, and convergence by g ender and ethnicity. We show that these factors affected leaving home but h ad little effect on the likelihood of returning home. Instead, changes in r eturning home are linked to changes in leaving home: the declining age at l eaving home and increases in leaving home before marriage. The route that i ncreased returning home most is "independence," because it has grown as a r oute out and it has shown the I-nest rapid increase in likelihood of a retu rn of any route.