The Destandardisation of Household Formation

Abstract

As we move further into the new century, we are witnessing the ongoing destandardisation of household formation amongst young adults. In a relatively short space of time, and across Europe, Australia and North America, patterns of movement in and out of a variety of living arrangements have been radically transformed. It is now commonplace to refer to the risk-strewn path to adulthood faced by contemporary youth. Former certainties of more or less linear transitions into a house and family of one's own have been displaced by a fragmentation of routes and a proliferation of possibilities. By the time they hit thirty, many young adults, having initially left the parental home, will have returned at least once. Most are likely to have experienced some form of communal living: in a hostel or hall of residence, in lodgings or bedsits, in student and non-student shared households. They may have spent time living alone, and will probably have cohabited at least once, possibly with a partner of the same sex. They may have children, with or without a live-in partner. If they have experienced marriage, they are likely to have first cohabited with their current spouse, and they face a strong possibility of subsequently experiencing divorce and remarriage, if they have not done so already. And on the breakdown of their relationships, they may move back into any one of these scenarios, at least temporarily.