Co-residence among migrant and Dutch young adults: the family influence disentangled

Helga de Valk, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)
Francesco C. Billari, Università Bocconi

This study examines the impact of the parental family on living arrangements of migrant and Dutch young adults in the Netherlands. The first aim of the study was to identify patterns of co-residence among migrant and Dutch young adults. Second aim was to ascertain how family influences the prevalence of co-residence. We studied how and to what extent migrant background, family ties and, socio-economic characteristics of the family influence the likelihood of living in the parental home. The sample consisted of 1,678 young adults aged between 15 to 30 years, from 847 families with five different ethnic backgrounds. Results show that the likelihood of co-residence compared to Dutch is higher for Moroccan youngsters only. Rather than an ethnic factor we find that family ties and socio-economic family background have a substantial influence on living arrangements of young adults. These effects are found to be comparable for levels of co-residence among migrant and Dutch young adults.