Working Paper: NBER ID: w1706
Authors: David W. Galenson
Abstract: Much recent research has focussed on some decisions that affected family composition in the past, including the determination of the age of marriage and the timing of fertility. This paper considers another such decision that has been relatively neglected, the determination of the age at which children left the parental home. Observations drawn from a collection of biographies of successful New England manufacturers, most of whom departed from their parents' homes in the first half of the nineteenth century, indicated that their age of departure was concentrated in the late teen ages and early twenties, with a median of 18 years. Multivariate analysis suggested that the age at which these men had left home varied directly with family income or wealth and inversely with the opportunity cost of their retention at home. Sons whose fathers had died tended to leave home earlier than otherwise, as did those whose first job away from home was in the employ of a relative, while those whose families invested more in their formal education appear to have stayed home longer.
Keywords: age at leaving home; family behavior; New England manufacturers; nineteenth century
JEL Codes: N30; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Family income (D31) | Age of departure (J26) |
| Opportunity cost of remaining at home (D13) | Age of departure (J26) |
| Presence of living father (J12) | Age of departure (J26) |
| Death of father (J12) | Age of departure (J26) |
| Employment by relatives (J79) | Age of departure (J26) |
| Initial employment by a relative (J68) | Age of departure (J26) |