An intact family nest appears to be an important factor in propelling a child toward successful adulthood.
According to a recent study by Frances and Calvin Goldscheider, professors of sociology, children who leave a home inhabited by a stepparent, particularly a stepfather, appear to have a more difficult transition into fruitful work and family roles.
American children who gained a stepparent after age 12 are the most likely of any group to leave the home to cohabitate with a girlfriend or boyfriend, join the military, or simply gain independence, according to the research. This group also was among the least likely to leave home to go to college, or ever to return home.
On the other hand, children who grew up in stable families with both their biological parents are the most likely to leave home to go to college and the most likely to return home. Such children are less likely to leave home to move in with a girlfriend or boyfriend, or simply to gain independence, according to the authors.
"Having two parents in a stable family structure, like having parents with more resources and having fewer siblings to share them with, appears to provide children with more resources needed for successful launching into adulthood," said the authors. "They are more likely to get educational investments that they need to obtain a secure and successful career trajectory, and can remain home until they are ready to establish a home of their own, via marriage or some other form of residential independence. Those with other experiences during childhood, particularly disruptions during adolescence, leave home at an early age any way they can."
Children who grew up in stepfamilies experienced a 20 to 25 percent increase in their odds of leaving home. Acquiring a stepparent increases the odds of leaving home before age 18 by up to 80 percent. Stepchildren are 60 to 80 percent less likely to return home compared to children who grew up living with their two biological parents.
Having been reared in a single-parent family does not appear to accelerate leaving home at all.
Children who experience family disruption before age 12 have somewhat higher odds of leaving home to attend college than those who were still experiencing family instability as adolescents.
The need to have one's own place, which appears to increase 50 percent or more because of family instability, may reflect the fact that the parental home feels even less like their own place than it does for children from stable families containing two biological parents, according to the Goldscheiders.
The odds of leaving the home for cohabitation and single parenthood skyrocket for those who experience family change during adolescence. The odds of taking this route relative to growing up in a stable two-parent family are 73 percent greater for those who experienced an unstable single-parent family; 117 percent greater for those who experienced family changes in adolescence; and 160 percent greater for those becoming stepchildren in adolescence.