The social differences in leaving home across Europe

Katrin Schwanitz, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED) and University of Groningen
Clara H. Mulder, University of Groningen
Laurent Toulemon, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Patterns of home-leaving vary widely across Europe. Despite the fact that a wealth of literature exists, important unanswered research questions remain - particularly in relation to differences in leaving home and the different pathways out of the parental home across Western and Eastern Europe, and how overall leaving home patterns are related to education and class differences. Using data from the Harmonized Histories Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) for 50,756 young women (aged 16 – 35 years) in 18 European countries, the paper addresses the following research questions: To what extent does the timing of leaving home and the different pathways out of the parental home vary by education and class in Europe? And how do these social differences interact with national context across Europe? How can social differences in home-leaving be explained in terms of individual and contextual effects?