Linking Lives in Ethnically Diverse Families: The Interconnectedness of Home Leaving and Retirement Transitions

Abstract

Drawing from a sociocultural life course perspective, this study examines the linkages between two age-related family transitions: young adult children leaving home and parental retirement. A sample of 580 ethnically diverse parents aged 50+ with at least one adult child aged 19–35 living in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, was used in this study based on four cultural groups: British–, Chinese–, Persian/Iranian–, or South Asian–Canadian. Separate survival analyses are used to predict the timing of, and associations between children’s leaving home and parents’ retirement. Later timing of adult children’s leaving home is associated with delays in retirement of parents and is influenced by a number of predictors. Main and interaction effects were supported for ethnicity, where belonging to the Persian/Iranian ethnic group (compared to British) delays home leaving, and belonging to Persian/Iranian and South Asian ethnic groups (compared to British) delays retirement timing.