Young Adult Graduates Living in the Parental Home

Expectations, Negotiations, and Parental Financial Support

Bibliographic Data

ID2347642
AuthorsAnne West (0000-0003-2932-7667, London School of Economics and Political Science, corresponding author), Jane Lewis (0000-0002-1184-4298, London School of Economics and Political Science), Jonathan Roberts (0000-0003-0410-5777, London School of Economics and Political Science), Philip Noden (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Year2017
Volume38
Issue17
Pages2449-2473
Publication date2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Family Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0192-513X • E-ISSN: 1552-5481
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0192513x16643745
OpenAlexW2257979834
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited25

In the United Kingdom and the United States, significant numbers of university graduates live with their parents, but little is known about expectations regarding parental support. This article focuses on a sample of British middle-class families and their coresident young adult children. It explores the extent to which parents and their graduate children have consistent expectations regarding coresidence and financial support and how such support is negotiated. Fifty-four in-depth interviews with parents and adult children were conducted. The findings reveal that expectations regarding coresidence were broadly consistent across parents and graduate children. Furthermore, within families, there was broad consistency regarding expectations of financial support, although there was variation between families. The nature and ways in which financial arrangements were negotiated varied between families, between parents, and between children. Expectations appear to be shaped by the child's circumstances and norms, with negotiations of different types enabling a way forward to be agreed

Developmental psychology · Economics · Negotiation · Political science · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Family Support in Illness · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Psychology · Finance