Too Close for Comfort? Parental Assessments of "Boomerang Kid" Living Arrangements

*This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Thanks to Ellen Gee, Andrew Wister, and Doug Talling for their contributions to this research. Abstract: The recent trend of young adults returning to the parental home has resulted in a burgeoning field of research. However, a controversy exists concerning the consequences of this social phenomenon for family members. Drawing on life course theory, this paper examines parental satisfaction with "boomerang kid" living arrangements by analyzing data collected from 218 Canadian families who recently experienced this transition "reversal". The main findings suggest that, from the parental point of view, returns to the nest are not typically characterized by dissatisfaction and conflict. Furthermore, parental satisfaction is greater when children reciprocate exchanges of support, are more autonomous, and are closer to the completion of adult roles. In recognition that many parents are experiencing a delay in the transition to the empty nest and an extension of their day-to-day responsibilities for children, implications for theory, parental well-being during midlife, and for social policy are discussed. Resume: La tendance recente d'un mouvement de retour a la maison parental observe chez les jeunes adultes s'est traduite par l'eclosion d'un champ de recherche. Toutefois, il existe une controverse au sujet des consequences de ce phenomene social sur les membres de la famille. En s'appuyant sur la theorie du cycle de vie, cet article etudie la satisfaction parentale vis-a-vis les modalites de vie des enfants boomerang en analysant des donnees recueillies aupres de 218 familles canadiennes ayant vecu une telle transition. Du point de vue parental, les principaux resultats suggerent que le mouvement de retour au nid n'est pas necessairement source de mecontentement ou de conflit. En outre, la satisfaction parentale est plus grande lorsque les enfants s'engagent dans une relation d'entraide, lorsqu'ils sont plus autonomes et qu'ils sont sur le point de remplir pleinement leur role d'adulte. Etant donne que plusieurs parents se voient contraints de retarder leur transition vers le nid vide et d'accroitre leurs responsabilites quotidiennes envers les enfants, nous discutons des implications tant au niveau de la theorie, qu'au niveau de la politique sociale et du bien-etre parental au mi-temps de la vie. Introduction From the perspective of parents, the launching of children marks an important transition in the life course into what is commonly termed the empty-nest stage. For young adults, the formation of independent households apart from parents is an important aspect of the passage into adulthood. Yet, recent Canadian data reveal that, even though leaving the parental household is a normative transition for the majority of young adults, it is not always permanent. Given the significant increase in rates of coresidence among adult children and their parents, it appears that young-adult children are increasingly likely to refill the parental nest as "boomerang kids. " (1) Although historical and cross-cultural evidence suggest substantial diversity in patterns of coresidence (e.g., see White, 1994; Jones, 1995; Weinick, 1995), Canadian statistics reveal a rise in the rates of intergenerational doubling-up in 1991 compared to earlier decades. (2) For example, among unmarried people aged 20-24, 70.5% of men and 63.4% of women were living at home in 1991. This represents approximately a 10% increase since the 1970s, leading some researchers to characterize these young adults as "a generation on hold" or "the postponed generation" (Littwin, 1986; Cote and Allahar, 1994). Thus, as attention devoted to youth transitions grows, it has become clear that coresidence, and returning home in particular, has numerous sociological, demographic, and economic implications, not the least of which is its impact on parent-child relationships, and ultimately, the quality of life experienced by parents during their middle-years. …