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. First aim of the study was to ascertain how family ties and preferences compare to socioeconomic characteristics of the family. The second aim was to identify patterns of living arrangements among migrant groups and to examine whether differences are associated with migrant background including specific preferences, or other family characteristics. The sample consisted of 1,678 children aged between 15 to 30 years, living in 847 families with five different ethnic backgrounds. We find that family ties have a substantial influence on living arrangements of young adults. In addition, results show that differences in living arrangements between migrant groups and Dutch are largely attributable to composition effects. The influence of the parental family and individual child characteristics on the young adult’s living arrangement do, however, not differ between the ethnic groups.