What you should know about this study

This study is based on data from the 2001 General Social Survey (GSS) on family history. The GSS interviewed 24,310 individuals aged 15 and over, living in private households in the 10 provinces. One section of the survey collected data on the number of times respondents left the parental home and their age at the time of each of these events. Information about first and last departure allows the process of “launching from home” to be examined for several generations of Canadians. This study is based on individuals aged 15 to 69 in 2001.¹

Five birth cohorts are examined, with the text focusing on Wave 1 Boomers and Generation X:

• Generation Y – born between 1977 and 1986, and 15 to 24 years old at the time of the survey;
• Generation X – born 1967 to 1976, aged 25 to 34;
• Wave 2 Boomers – born 1957 to 1966, aged 35 to 44;
• Wave 1 Boomers – born 1947 to 1956, aged 45 to 54; and
• War/Depression generation – born 1932 to 1946, aged 55 to 69 at the time of the 2001 GSS.

The process of leaving home is analysed in two steps. First, life-tables are used to calculate the cumulative probabilities that highlight the differences in the intensity and timing of home-leaving between cohorts. Second, event history analysis is used to identify the demographic and socio-economic factors associated with the home-leaving process. These factors are presented as risk ratios. Involuntary departures (such as parental deaths) and all departures before age 15 are excluded from this analysis.

Launch: A child’s first departure from the parental home to live independently. If the child does not return, the launch is described as successful.

Boomerang: A child’s return to the parental home after a period of living independently (usually assumed to be a minimum of four months in many studies).

Risk ratio: Ratio of the estimated probability of an event occurring (e.g., leaving home for the first time) versus the estimated probability of the event occurring for a reference group. For example, if the probability of leaving home for the first time at age 21 was 20% for Wave 1 Baby Boomers and it was 10% for the reference cohort (say, the War/Depression generation) after controlling for all other variables in the model, then the risk ratio would be 2.0. Risk ratios over 1.0 indicate a higher risk associated with that characteristic, compared to the reference group; a risk ratio less than 1.0 indicates a lower risk.

The risk ratios were calculated based on a proportional hazard model using the following explanatory variables: birth cohort; family environment when the respondent was age 15 (family composition, number of siblings, mother’s and father’s main activity, mother’s birthplace); the respondent’s place of residence when he or she was 15 (region/province, size of town/city); and the level of education the respondent had obtained by the time he or she first left the parental home; and the respondent’s employment status at the time of first departure. Separate models were run for men and women.

Note:

1. Based on respondents’ interpretation and recollection of the age at which they first left home.