Elyse Warner PhD Candidate School of Health and Social Development Deakin University CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B Literature review Rationale Research design Preliminary findings CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Many young adults return to live with their parents after moving out – the ‘boomerang generation’(Flatau et al 2007) • ‘Boomerang kids’ commonly defined as those who have lived outside the parental home for at least four months and then returned home for at least four months (Mitchell 2006a, 2006b, 2007; Mitchell &Gee 1996) • Returning home needs to be considered separately from delayed home leaving CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Research into ‘boomerang generation’ mostly analysis of survey data to predict factors leading to a return home (Sassler, Ciambrone & Benway 2008) (DaVanzo & Goldscheider 1990; Kilmartin 2000; Mitchell, Wister & Gee 2000; Young 1987) CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Most parents sharing with children as a consequence of a return highly satisfied with this living arrangement (Mitchell 1998) • Parents more likely to be satisfied if co-residing child: (Mitchell 1998) CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Young adults are calling upon their families to provide support (Gitelson & McDermott 2006; Liem, Cavell & Lustig 2010; Settersten & Ray 2010) • Few studies of returners’ experiences • Limited exploration of family members’ views • Need for more contemporary research, especially as returning is common and seems to reflect societal changes (Mitchell 2006) CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B To qualitatively explore Australian families’ experiences when a young adult moves back to the parental home to live, and thus increase knowledge of this phenomenon CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Qualitative approach • Allows the situation of returning home to be explored in depth • Offers insight into participants’ perspectives • Phenomenology • Focuses on the lived experience not on possibilities and estimations • Ethical approval • Received from Deakin University, Faculty of Health Human Ethics Advisory Group (HEAG-H 91/11). CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B The data collection and analysis process Face to face interviews Transcription Thematic coding Further coding and analysis Follow-up interviews Writing CURRENT STAGE CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Family members acknowledge return home response to changes in circumstances • Families generally accommodate their children returning • Returning home reflects close family relationships • Families employ strategies to make arrangement work CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B Families’ experiences when young adults return home ACCEPTANCE ACCOMMODATION ADVANCEMENT CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B • Findings support the important role the family continues to play during young adulthood • Return home just another transition parents and young adults experience and have to accommodate • Unlike previous research, these findings offer greater insight into how families manage the return home of a young adult CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2008, Family Characteristics and Transitions, Australia, 2006–07, cat. no. 4442.0, ABS, Canberra. 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Mitchell, B & Gee, E 1996,'Boomerang kids and midlife parental marital satisfaction', Family Relations, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 442-8. Sassler, S, Ciambrone, D & Benway, G 2008, 'Are they really mama's boys/daddy's girls? The negotiation of adulthood upon returning to the parental home', Sociological Forum, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 670-98. Settersten, R & Ray, B 2010, 'What's going on with young people today? The long and twisting path to adulthood', The Future of Children, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 19-41. Young, CM 1987, Young People Leaving Home in Australia: The Trend Towards Independence, Australian Family Formation Project Monograph No.9, Department of Demography, Australian National University, Canberra. Images: 1. Vassallo, S, Smart, D & Price-Robertson, R 2009, 'The role that parents play in the lives of their young adult children', Family Matters, no. 82, pp. 8-14. 2. Doherty, E 2011 ‘Children fly back to the nest’, Herald Sun, 28 October. CRICOS Provider Code: 00113B