Leaving home

Leaving home is the first major study of leaving home to be published in book form in Britain. It combines a broad history of leaving home with an analysis of the relevant theory and up-to-date research in the area. It examines the processes of household formation in youth, and considers patterns of leaving home in a historical context. These patterns are shown to increasingly involve returns to the parental home. Access to state and family support is investigated, and the implication of recent reductions in state support are discussed. Leaving home develops a framework for understanding transitions to adulthood which steers a course between commentators who suggest that young people are responsible for their own homelessness or joblessness, and those who argue that such problems are purely structural. Leaving home argues that this polarization leads to unhelpful stereotypes which need to be 'unpacked' if we are to understand the social problems affecting young people, and help them to make a successful transition to adulthood.