The Nest-Leaving Behavior in Japan : Determinants of the Timing of Leaving Home

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of nest-leaving behavior among young adults in Japan. The research on the timing of nest-leaving has been largely hindered by the data availability and methodologies. Previous studies either used cross-sectional analysis or life table methods. Those studies did not model how the transition rate of nest-leaving is dependent on a broader set of covariates. This study overcomes these methodological weaknesses by applying the event-history analysis to the first available nationally representative data for analyzing nest-leaving behavior in Japan. The data is from the 1998 survey of National Family Research of Japan (NFRJ98). The NFRJ98 data is a retrospective survey of men and women aged 28 to 77. The birth cohorts of 1940-1970 are chosen to analyze nest-leaving behavior from the era of rapid economic growth in the 1950s to recent economic recession in the 1990s. Individuals who left home younger than age 15 are not included in the sample. As a result, 2079 men and 2299 women are the subject of analysis. Explanatory variables used in the models are the following : the number of siblings, birth order, widowed or non-intact family, town size, and parents' socio-economic status and life event variables such as schooling, occupation and marriage. Previous studies showed that late marriage and the concentration of the youth population in metropolitan areas are the major causes for the delay of nest-leaving in recent cohorts. This paper argues that birth order and educational attainment are also the key factors determining the timing of leaving home. The oldest sons, and oldest daughters without male siblings are less likely to leave home than other siblings, even in the cohorts of 1960s. Moreover, highly educated women are less likely to leave for occupational reasons than those less educated. Furthermore, attaining higher education both delays women's initial exposure to the risk of marriage and reduces the hazard of marriage itself. As marriage is the major mechanism of nest-leaving among women, the delay of marriage caused by educational attainment further delays the timing of leaving home. In spite of the tendency of late nest-leaving among women, those women whose parental economic situations are unstable tend to leave home early. Contrary to women, highly educated men tend to leave home for both educational and occupational reasons than less educated men. Although the demographic context of recent cohorts such as fewer siblings and high probability of living in metropolitan areas suggests that young adults are more likely to stay home, there is only a slight delay in the timing of men's nest-leaving in recent cohorts. This is due to the fact that (1) the convention that the oldest son should stay with parents even after marriage has weakened in cohorts born after 1950s, and (2) the probability of leaving for marriage was higher for the 1960-64 cohorts which benefitted from the babble economy of 1980s. In conclusion, the timing of nest-leaving is highly influenced by educational attainment. Also the effects of birth order indicate the traditional stem family norm is still firmly rooted in contemporary Japanese society.