Changes in Returning Home in the United States, 1925–1985

Returning home in young adulthood has increased from a rare to a common occurrence. We examine the effects of historical events, such as World War II, and longer-term changes in the attractiveness of the parental feathered nest, family structure, the growth of second-rate jobs, and convergence by gender and ethnicity. We show that these factors affected leaving home but had little effect on the likelihood of returning home. Instead, changes in returning home are linked to changes in leaving home: the declining age at leaving home and increases in leaving home before marriage. The route that increased returning home most is "independence," because it has grown as a route out and it has shown the most rapid increase in likelihood of a return of any route.