Living arrangements

Sex differences

Young men tend to remain in the family home for longer than young women.

This pattern holds true across all ethnic groups.  In 2006 among those aged 20 to 24, 25.6 percent of young women were living with parents, compared with 35.2 percent of young men.(1)

North American research indicates leaving home early may be an active choice of young women to obtain greater independence.  Daughters report greater parental control and doing or being expected to do more unpaid work around the home than sons. (2)

Young women also tend to partner and have children earlier than young men.  In 2006, 22.1 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were living as a parent with children, compared to 10.4 percent of men in the same age group.  

Living arrangements of young people aged 15 to 19 and 20 to 24, by sex, 2006
  Ages 15 to 19 Ages 20 to 24
  Males
%		 Females
%		 Males
%		 Females
%
Living with parent(s) 79.1 73.5 35.2 25.6
Not living with family 17.3 17.8 40.9 33.5
Couple without children 1.7 3.6 13.5 18.8
Parent with child(ren) 1.9 5.1 10.4 22.1

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Census. Notes:

  1. Data relates to households in permanent private dwellings where household composition is known.
  2. Absentees are excluded.  Therefore a small proportion of children may be coded as “Not living with family” where their parents were absent on Census night.

Notes

1. “Parents” in this section is taken from the Census 2006 definition: “A ‘parent’ is the mother, father (natural, step, adopted or foster), or ‘person in a parent role’ of a ‘child in a family nucleus’. A ‘person in a parent role’ is a person who is not a mother or father (natural, step, adopted or foster) of the young person (as defined by the survey) but who nevertheless usually resides with that young person.”  For information about derivation of categories, please see the Methodology report.
2. Boyd M and Norris D (1999) ‘The Crowded Nest: Young adults at home’, Canadian Social Trends, Spring, 2-5.