Today's young Australians are delaying their transition from education to full-time employment, from living at home to owning their own home, and from 'singledom' to marriage. These are among the findings of the recent ACER report Becoming an Adult: Leaving Home, Relationships and Home Ownership Among Australian Youth .

The report finds that young people are remaining in the parental home longer, a change that is more evident among young women than young men; they are choosing less formal de facto relationships more frequently and delaying their entry to marriage; are spending more time in rental accommodation; and are entering home ownership at decreasing rates.

The report focuses on three aspects of adulthood: moving out of home, establishing a relationship and buying a house. The report documents the incidence of these events over time and analyses their relationship with social background, demographic and labour market factors. The study uses data from the four Youth in Transition cohorts born in 1961, 1965, 1970 and 1975.

According to ACER Deputy Director Dr John Ainley, the report reveals that young people (under 25) are now making the transition to independent living at much older ages than in previous cohorts and there is some indication that a growing number of young people may not achieve the traditional markers of adulthood. 'With a growing number of young people opting to delay marriage and the purchase of a home, this research indicates the possible existence of new markers of adulthood such as establishing a serious de facto relationship or entering rental accommodation.'

The report found that location and cultural background were two of the strongest influences on leaving home. Young people living in non-metropolitan areas were up to twice as likely to leave home as their metropolitan peers. Those whose parents were from a non-English speaking country were half as likely to leave as those whose parents were born in Australia. Young people who hold a university qualification were less likely to marry in the surveyed period (ages 19-25). The research also found a very strong relationship between marriage and home ownership. Young people who were married were two to four times more likely to purchase a home than their unmarried peers.

Dr Ainley said that the report's findings had a number of potential policy implications. 'We have found previously that the attainment of markers of adulthood has some bearing on the levels of well-being of young Australians. It is possible, therefore, that policies that delay the attainment of independence can also affect the life satisfaction and well-being of young Australians.'

Becoming an Adult: Leaving Home, Relationships and Home Ownership Among Australian Youth , by ACER researchers Ms Kylie Hillman and Dr Gary Marks, is Research Report Number 28 in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth research program, jointly managed by ACER and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.

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