Leaving the Parental Home: Chinese Culture in an Urban Context

Author(s): Kwok-fai Ting and Stephen W. K. Chiu

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Aug., 2002), pp. 614-626
Published by: National Council on Family Relations
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3599929
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 W. K. CHIU
TINGANDSTEPHEN
KWOK-FAI
The ChineseUniversityof Hong Kong
Leavingthe ParentalHome:ChineseCulture
in an UrbanContext
Leavingthe parentalhome is increasinglytreated
as an essential stepping-stonetowardadulthood
in the modernworld.The authorsargue that this
is a culturalprocess regulatedby social norms
and institutionalsettings that varyfrom place to
place. Hong Kongprovidesan excellentscenario
in which Chinese traditionscoexist with rapid
economic development.Rather than looking at
leaving the parental home as a developmental
process, Chinesetraditiontendsto linkit withfil-
ial obligationsand genderstatus.On the basis of
life historydata collected in Hong Kong, the au-
thors establish that leaving home has neither
gained substantial popularity nor become a
uniquelife stage among Chinese;it continuesto
be closely associatedwith the marriagetransition
and practical considerationssuch as housing,
childcare needs, and the availabilityof elderly
care.
Modernfamily life is increasinglydifferentiated
by distinct stages that have either been recently
createdor graduallyredefinedwith new expecta-
tions (Aries, 1962; Kett, 1983; Skolnick, 1991).
Leavingthe parentalhome is one such event that
marks the transitionbetween adolescence and
youngadulthood(White,1994).Forthoseholding
a developmentalperspective,leaving home rep-
Departmentof Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong
Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong (kfting@cuhk.edu.hk).
Key Words:adulthoodtransition,Chinesefamily,familism,
leaving parental home.
614 Journalof Marriageand Family64 (August2002): 614-626
resents a significantstep in creatinga coherent
sense of self that is separatedfrom the parents
(Anderson& Sabatelli,1999). Throughestablish-
ing theirown residence,home leaversgain inde-
pendencein financial,functional,and emotional
terms. By distancingthemselvesfrom their par-
ents, both spatiallyand mentally,they are able to
expandtheir social life beyondthe family circle.
However,leaving home is not a naturalprocess.
It involves a conscious negotiationof a new re-
lationshipwith parentson an adult-to-adult basis,
and the creationof a balancebetweenone's own
preferencesand parentalinterests.
Although privacy and autonomy are highly
cherished modern values among young adults,
leaving home does not follow a simple logic of
individualismpropelledby modernization.As re-
cently reportedin Newsweek(Power,2000), con-
trary to the Americanexperience, more young
Italianmen arechoosingto stay with theirparents
in a phenomenonknownas mammismo(or mam-
ma's boy syndrome).Besides high ratesof youth
unemploymentand expensiverents,the cohesive
family has been a strong culturalforce keeping
young Italiansat home.Unless thereareabsolute-
ly no other choices, leaving home to work or
study is not as commonlyacceptedby Italiansas
it is by Americans.Indeed, there are important
culturalandstructuralvariationsin the homeleav-
ing process. Because of differencesin education
systems and employmentopportunities,Ameri-
cans tend to leave home earlierthan Australians
and Britons (Kerckhoff& Macrae, 1992). Even
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong 615

for Asian Americanswho sharestrongfamilyval- consideredindividualismselfish and denied it as

ues, the inclinationto live with parents varies a necessary part of adulthood.Collectivismfur-
among Japanese,Chinese, Filipinos, Korean,In- ther found its expressionin the culturalideal of
dians, and Vietnamese(Kanjanapan,1989). multigenerationcoresidence, which symbolized
From a comparativepoint of view, leaving family prosperity.As family memberswere en-
home is not merelya growing-upprocessbecause couraged to live under the same roof, leaving
it is regulatedby social norms and institutional home was conspicuouslyomittedfrom the grow-
settingsthatdiffer fromplace to place. So far,lit-ing up process.
tle attentionhas been paid to the home-leaving Familyharmonyis anothercornerstoneof Chi-
process beyond the Americanand Europeanex- nese familism.To maintainsolidaritywithinfam-
periences.Asia's push for rapideconomic devel- ily, individualsmust submitthemselvesto family
opmentcontrastssharplywith its lingeringcultur- goals andbehaveaccordingto theirstatusandrole
al traditions(Tu, 1996). Hong Kong is a case in in family.The father,accordingto patriarchal tra-
point.In less thanhalf a century,Hong Konghas dition, was the centralfigurewith superiorstatus.
successfully transformed itself from a small By controllingthe family assets he commanded
entrepotinto a regional financialhub. Tom be- absoluteauthorityover his wife andchildren.Chi-
tween modernideology and traditionalfamilism, nese culturebestoweduponhim andhis wife great
young adults struggleto balance personalspace responsibilityandauthorityto supervisetheirchil-
and family obligations(Chan,Ho, & Tam, 1997; dren'sbehaviorand personallife, fromfriendship
Salaff, 1981). Using life history data from Hong circles to spouse selection.Youngadultsfoundit
Kong Chinese,this study examinesthe extent to extremelydifficult,if not impossible,to move out
which leaving the parentalhome has become a of the family home withoutparentalconsent. In
unique life stage, and analyzes how traditional addition,Chinese placed a high value on chil-
values are being modifiedin a highly urbanized dren'smoralresponsibilityfor takingcare of el-
context. derly parents,and physicalattendanceto parental
needs was a bare minimumto fulfill such duties.
CHINESEFAMILISM IN URBANHONGKONG Thus, leaving the parentalhome was inexorably
linked to the ideation of filial piety ratherthan
AlthoughHong Kong was underBritishrule for personaldevelopment.
morethana century(1842-1997), Chinesevalues, As Chinesefamilismdevelopedalongthe male
andtheiremphasison familism,maintaina strong lineage, therewas a significantgenderdifference
hold on the mindsof its 6.7 millionresidents.The in the culturalmeanings that were attachedto
significanceof familism goes far beyond kinship leaving home. Sons, as heirs to the family prop-
relationswithin Chinese family: more important, erty, were traditionallyexpectedto live with their
it formsthe core of cosmic orderand the basis of parentsuntil the parentspassed away.The oldest
how social and politicallives are organized(Lau, son, in particular,shoulderedgreat responsibility
1982). for his family and his parents.Yet, sibling order
was a relativelyminorfactor when comparedto
ChineseFamilism gender differences. Traditionally,moral codes
tendedto be more elaboratefor women than for
The principalcharacterof Chinesefamilismis its men. As parentswere held responsiblefor the
emphasis on collective family welfare. Because moralqualitiesof unmarrieddaughters,they com-
the Chinese traditionallyemphasizedthe impor- monly exercised stringent control over their
tance of blood ties, the concept of family often daughters'lives. Thus,living awayfromhomebe-
extended to include a much wider kinship net- fore marriagewas far less acceptablefor daugh-
work, and people were held accountablenot only ters than for sons. However, daughtershad to
to themselves and their intermediate family, but move out of the parentalhome upon marriage,as
also to the whole familial group.The burdenof they were consideredoutsidersafter takingtheir
familialresponsibilitywas enormousat times,and husband's family name-the symbolic act of
this pressuredparentsto preparetheirchildrento transferringfamily obligationsand loyalty.Thus,
consider family interestsat young ages through leaving the parentalhome as a necessarypartof
stringentdiscipline. Contraryto the situationin the marriageritualhas been a commonlife course
the West, whereindividualismis a cherishedele- transitionamongChinesewomen,butit has never
mentin personaldevelopment,traditionalChinese been an independentstep towardadulthood.
616
Chinese Familism in Hong Kong
Althoughthe full packageof traditionalfamilism
seems passe in the urbancontext, practicesthat
emphasizecollectiveinterests,parentalpower,fil-
ial piety, and male lineage surviveto variousde-
grees in Hong Kong (Chan et al., 1997; Hong,
1973; Lee, 1991;Podmore& Chaney,1974; Sal-
aff, 1981; Stoodley, 1967). Studiesconductedin
the 1960s and 1970s suggestedthatparentalcon-
trolover children'sactivitieswas commonandex-
tensive-ranging fromoccupationalchoicesto en-
gagement decisions (Hong, 1973; Podmore &
Chaney, 1973; Salaff, 1981). Indeed, parental
power was found to be strongerin Hong Kong
thanin the UnitedStates,the Philippines,andJa-
pan (Podmore& Chaney, 1973). Findings also
confirmedthat parentalcontrol was stricterfor
daughtersthanfor sons. Consistentwith the sub-
missive role of women,Salaff showedthatyoung
workingdaughterswillingly handedover most of
theirwages to theirparentsand put family needs
before their personalinterests.Despite their sig-
nificantcontributionto the familyeconomy,these
young womenfoundit difficultto justifytheirde-
sires to move out of the parentalhome for better
living conditionsand greaterpersonalspace. As
Salaff concluded,parentalauthoritywas surpris-
ingly robustin the rapidindustrializationof Hong
Kong.
In the 1980s and 1990s, therewere clear signs
of tensionbetweentraditionalfamilismandrapid
social change. Some researchersbegan to raise
concerns about the withering of social status
among the older family members,on the pre-
sumptionthat old people no longer commanded
respectin the family and were consideredworth-
less in a society moving in the fast lane (Chow,
1987; Kwan, 1995). Indeed,fewer parentsin the
early 1990s believed that their children would
providethe same kind of securityand prosperity
as they had done for their own parents(Shek,
1996). These concernssuggest the weakeningof
parentalpower in the personal lives of young
adults. Althoughmany parentsstill expected to
live with theirmarriedsons in the 1970s (Salaff,
1981), as many as 62% of the respondentsin a
1988 surveyendorsedthe view thatnewlymarried
couples shouldlive away fromtheirparents(Lee,
1991). Followingwomen'spatternsof residential
movement,manymoreyoung men left the paren-
tal home upon marriageas their incomes im-
provedsteadilyover the prosperousdecadesof the
1980s and 1990s. Changesin residentialarrange-
Journal of Marriage and Family
mentsclearlyindicatea new emphasison personal
space and boundaries.What remainsunclear is
whetherleaving home before marriage,particu-
larlyfor daughters,is equallyfeasibleandsocially
acceptable.
Althoughthe values of privacy and personal
freedom,which are both importantto urbanism,
have been on the rise among young adults, it
wouldbe a gross exaggerationto suggestthattra-
ditionalChinesefamilismhas lost its influencein
Hong Kong. The nexus between traditionalism
and urbanlife is complex.A majorityof Chinese
continueto believe thattakingcareof elderlypar-
ents is a family obligation(Chanet al., 1997;The
Hong Kong Federationof YouthGroups,1999).
Indeed,Chinesefamilismhas transformed itself as
the economy has advanced.King (1996) has ob-
served that traditionalismin Hong Kong was
highly rationalisticin nature,as traditionalprac-
tices were selectively adoptedto serve pragmatic
goals. For instance,as Salaff (1981) has suggest-
ed, althoughthe traditionalemphasison women's
virtue put daughtersunderstringentparentalsu-
pervision,parentshad strongeconomicmotivesto
keep workingdaughtersat home to secure their
income contribution.Lau (1981) has also sug-
gested that inadequateinstitutionalsupportled to
the primacyof family as the basis for accommo-
datingpersonalneeds. The lack of a comprehen-
sive social securitysystem, for instance,offered
elderly parentsno other choice but to live with
theirmarriedchildren(Kwan,1995).Manywork-
ing couples also chose to live with parentsto ob-
tain reliable care for their otherwiseunattended
children. Other than a simple play of cultural
codes, multigenerationcoresidenceserves many
practicalpurposes.
This pragmaticturn in familism means that
Hong Kong Chinesehave become less dogmatic
in the highly regardedpractice of filial piety,
which offers them sufficient flexibility to deal
with the new realitiesof a fast-changingsociety.
Althoughchildrenare obligedto takecareof and
providefor theirparents,therehas beenless social
pressureto live with them. Leaving the parental
home is a decision that dependson whetherpar-
ents can take care of themselvesand whetherar-
rangementsfor care of the elderly, in terms of
finance and personal attention, can be made
amongsiblings.The traditionalgenderdivisionin
caringfor elderlyparentshas also diminished.Not
only have marrieddaughtersbeen actively in-
volved in takingcare of theirelderlyparents,but
some have actuallybrokenthe patrilocalrule by
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong
having their husbands move into the parental
home.Accordingto 1983 statisticson the addition
of children'sspousesin publichousing,17%were
sons-in-law(Lee, 1987). Althoughmatrilocalliv-
ing arrangementsare far from a regularpractice
in Hong Kong, the magnitudeof changeindicates
a significantdeviationfrom the culturalnorm.
There are also unique urban conditionsthat
presentmaterialimperativesfor living with par-
ents. Housingis an extremelylimitedandvaluable
resourcein Hong Kong. Between 1982 and 1997,
propertypricesfor privatehousingincreasedsev-
enfold, comparedto a 3.6 times rise in wages
(Census and Statistics Department,1998). The
high pricesof HongKonghousing,whicharesec-
ond in Asia only to those of Tokyo,deteryoung
adultsfrom leadingindependentlifestyles by liv-
ing away from theirparents.Obviously,financial
resourcesplay a vital role in the decisionto leave
home in this urbancontext.For those who cannot
affordhousingin the privatemarket,publichous-
ing is an importantalternative.However,public
housing is not designed for single young people
and the waitinglist is so long that even qualified
marriedpeople have to wait several years-6
years in 1999, to be exact-before a residential
unitcan be allocatedto them.Some youngpeople
may find it necessary to live with their parents
duringthe first few years of their marriageas a
transitionalarrangement. Ratherthana steadyde-
cline in extendedfamilies, householdsthat were
composedof marriedcouplesandtheirparentsac-
tually increased slightly from 9.4% in 1976 to
9.9% in 1996 (Censusand StatisticsDepartment,
1981, 1996).
In sum,thereis a greatdifferencebetweenChi-
nese and Westernersin the culturalinterpretation
of leaving the parentalhome. Ratherthan taking
it as a necessarylife event thatcontributesto per-
sonal growth,Chinesetraditionjudgesleavingthe
parentalhome as runningagainstfilial piety and
family solidarity.Althoughmodernizationandthe
penetrationof Westernvalues in the areasof per-
sonal freedomand privacyhave challengedthese
traditionalnotions,culturalconsiderationsare by
no means irrelevantto the decision to leave the
parentalhome in Hong Kong.To resolveconflicts
betweentraditionalChinesefamilismand modem
individualism,young people need to work out
their own solutionswith referenceto the circum-
stancesof theirlife course developmentin an ur-
ban context.
617
METHOD
Sample
The data in this study came from the Social
Changeand EconomicLife surveywe conducted
betweenNovember1994 andFebruary1996. Life
histories were collected by personal interviews
with respondentson a randomhouseholdlist pro-
vided by the Census and StatisticsDepartment.
The survey obtaineda favorableresponserate of
59.4% from the targetpopulation,who were age
25 to 55 and had lived in Hong Kong for at least
10 years.The questionnairewas dividedinto sev-
eral modulesto cover topics on residentialmove-
ments, family career,educationattainment,and
work history.Of the 1,743 people who were suc-
cessfully interviewed,only 1,101 were asked to
answerthe moduleon residentialhistory,in order
to shortenthe interviewingtime. The residential
historymoduleprovidedinformationon the tim-
ing of residentialmovementsandthe composition
of households.Attentionwas confined to those
who were living with parentsat the age of 14, so
that they could be followed throughtime to ob-
serve theirdeparturefromthe parentalhome.This
criterion excluded 281 migrants who came to
Hong Kongafterthe age of 14. Althoughit means
thatthe samplewas biasedtowardnativepersons,
the exclusion of these migrantshelped to isolate
life coursedisruptionsin adulthoodtransitionsbe-
cause of migration.After the furtherexclusionof
164 cases with incompletedata,an effective sam-
ple of 656 respondentswas obtained.
This samplerepresentedone of the most sys-
tematiceffortsin collectinglife historydatain the
territory,but there were severallimitationsin its
researchdesign. Althoughit is convenientto ob-
tainlongitudinaldatafromretrospectivequestions
in a cross-sectionalsurvey, the resultantinfor-
mation might be subjectto memory errors.The
inquirywas limited to factualquestionsto mini-
mize memory distortions,and the interviewers
were trainedto constructtime chartsto assist re-
spondentsto recall the sequence and timing of
majorlife events.The birthcohortsthatwerecon-
structedfrom the cross-sectionalsamplesuffered
a representationproblembecause of the attrition
of the populationover time. In particular,mem-
bers of the older cohortswere more likely to be
excludedin the presentsamplingframe.Onemust
keep these limitationsin mind when interpreting
the findings.
618
Measures
Cohortmembershipwas measuredon the basis of
the respondents'yearof birth.As the samplesize
was relativelysmall comparedto the usualcohort
studiesin demography,birthyears were recorded
in 5-year intervalsto minimize randomfluctua-
tions becauseof insufficientcases. For periodef-
fects, in additionto the calendaryear that was
used in the preliminaryanalysis,we furthercap-
turedthe periodicfluctuationsof housing afford-
abilityin the multivariatemodels.The affordabil-
ity measure,which runs from 1964 to 1995, is a
ratioof the housingpriceindex to the wage index
(both indices were set to 100 in 1974). High val-
ues of the measureindicatethat housing prices
grew faster than wages, that is, housing became
less affordableto the averageperson.As housing
is an importantelement of urban life in Hong
Kong, housing conditionswere furtherclassified
into three majortypes: (a) public rentalhousing,
(b) privaterentalhousing,and(c) privatelyowned
housing (plus residualcategoriessuch as hostels
and squatters),with each representingdifferent
opportunitycosts for moving out of the parental
home. Privatelyowned housing was used as the
reference category for the two kinds of rental
housing.
In terms of parentalstatus,parentalresources
were measuredby the father'soccupationalstatus
throughthe Cambridgescores when the respon-
dents were 14 yearsof age. This measurereflects
the patriarchalpast of Chinese society, in which
men were the heads and the majorbreadwinners
of households. Two dichotomous variables of
whetherboth parentssurvivedand whetherboth
reachedthe age of 60 or morewere used to reflect
the needfor youngadultsto stayhometakingcare
of parents.Measuresof household structurein-
cluded sibling order,sibling size, and household
composition.Being the first child, the last child,
or the only child in familywere recordedby three
dichotomousvariables, with those born in the
middle serving as the referencecategory.In ad-
dition, the total numberof siblings was included
to reflect the sharingof filial responsibilitiesin
family.Threedichotomousvariablesof household
compositionwere coded to indicatewhetherthe
respondentswere living with grandparents, rela-
tives, or nonrelatives.
Among the measuresof life course develop-
ment,threetypes of activitystatuswere classified,
namelyfull-timeschooling,out of school but not
employed,and working.Both full-timeschooling
Journal of Marriage and Family
and not workingwere coded in two dichotomous
variables,with workingas the referencecategory.
Educational qualification and occupational
achievementwere includedas two majordimen-
sions of personalachievements.Educationalat-
tainmentwas measuredby two dichotomousvar-
iables that represented the completion of
high-schooleducationand college educationand
less than high school completionwas the refer-
ence category. Occupationalachievement was
measuredby occupationalstatus with the Cam-
bridge score and income improvementwas mea-
sured by a dichotomousvariableof whetherthe
respondentreceivedpay rises as comparedto the
previousjob position.For family transitions,the
marriagecareerwas dividedinto threestages:(a)
single and not actively consideringmarriage,(b)
the preparatory stage(from6 monthsbeforeto the
time of marriage),and(c) aftermarriage.The first
stage was the referencecategoryfor the othertwo
stages,whichwere measuredby two dichotomous
variables.Similarly,parenthoodcareerwas divid-
ed into threestages:(a) beforeexpectingthe first
child, (b) the expectingstage (8 monthsbeforeto
the time of the firstbirth),and (c) afterchildbirth.
Again, the first stage was the referencecategory
for the lattertwo stages.
ConceptualModel
As gender is central to the process of leaving
homefor HongKongChinese,the researchdesign
consistedof separateanalysesof men andwomen,
in additionto an assessmentof the full sample.
The focus on changeled to the analysisof period
and cohort trends.In additionto the period and
cohort factors, the multivariateanalysesfocused
on four key components:(a) urbanhousing, (b)
parentalstatus, (c) householdstructure,and (d)
life course development.They capturedthe dy-
namics of push-pullforces in the leaving home
process.
Cultural traditionswere selectively adapted
and modifiedto suit the urbancontext in Hong
Kong. Urbanhousing, in particular,was an im-
portantfactorin youngpeople'sdecisionsto move
out of the parentalhome. Housing affordability
and housingtype were the two measuresused to
analyzethe opportunitycost of movingout of the
parentalhome. It was expected that high rental
prices and living in highly subsidizedhousing
would discourageyoungpeople fromestablishing
a separatehousehold.
To explicatethe changingnormsof living ar-
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong 619

rangements,the analysis furtherconsideredvari- the parentalhome is a time-dependentevent, two

ous aspectsof parentalstatusandhouseholdstruc- types of censorshipwere inevitablyencountered
ture in the models. Parentalstatuswas measured in this analysis.The first was because of the in-
in terms of the ability to influencechildren'sde- terview schedule,as some respondentswere still
cisions and the actualneed for childrento remain living with their parentswhen they were inter-
at home. It was predictedthatparentswithgreater viewed. The second type of censorshipoccurred
economicresourcesweremorelikely to keeptheir when both parentshad died before respondents
childrenaroundthem.Becauseof the call of filial moved out. Althoughwe were unableto further
piety, havingonly one survivingparentor elderly observe the event of leaving the parentalhome
parentswould also makeit harderfor young peo- beyondthe time of censorship,we did know what
ple to leave home. In terms of householdstruc- happenedin the periodbeforethatcensorship.The
ture,the distributionof filialresponsibilityin fam- proportionalhazardsmodel has the advantageof
ily was examinedthroughsibling size and order. fully utilizing the availableinformationup until
Chinese tradition stressed that the oldest son the time at which censorshipoccurs. The model
should stay with his parents,but the availability has the form of:
of sibling supportmight carry a much greater
log hi(t) = ao(t) + 3i,x + + r3kXik,
weight today when leaving the parentalhome is
considered. The norms of living arrangements wherethe log of hazardrate for the ithindividual
were analyzedwith householdcompositionmea- is an additivefunctionof the baselinehazard,o(t),
sures. We believed that living with grandparents and the k explanatoryvariables.Takingexponen-
would reinforcefilial piety and discourageyoung tiationon both sides of the equationleads to haz-
people from leaving theirparentalhomes. Living ardratesas multiplicativefunctionsof the explan-
with nonfamilymembers,however,would lead to atoryvariablesandthe coefficientassociatedwith
a greaterinclinationto leave home becauseof ris- each variable,exp(3k),is referredto as the risk
ing concernsof personalspace and privacy. ratio.Withlife historydata,we were ableto mod-
In this article,we ask whetherleaving the pa- el the shift of hazardrates as life course circum-
rentalhomehas becomea uniquelife stageamong stances changed.As time was an importantaxis
Hong Kong Chinese.Threeaspectsof life course in the analysis, the explanatoryvariablesin the
developmentwere analyzedto answerthis ques- models fell into two categories: time-invariant
tion:(a) activitystatus,(b) achievementlevel, and variablesand time-dependentvariables.Birthco-
(c) familytransitions.It was anticipatedthatthose horts,the father'soccupationalstatus,and sibling
who were in school or not employed would be statusbelongedto the firstcategory,as theirval-
less likely to leave home than those who were ues did not changeover time. All othervariables
working.Those with higherlevels of achievement belongedto the secondcategorybecausetheirval-
in education,occupationalstatus,and pay would ues changedas individualsaged (Allison, 1995).
have more resourcesto supporta separatehouse-
hold and thus would be more likely to leave the RESULTS
parentalhome. We furthertested the thesis that
leaving the parentalhome was very muchdepen- Leavingthe ParentalHome in the UnitedStates
denton familytransitionsamongHongKongChi- and Hong Kong
nese. First marriage,particularlyamong women,
would be associatedwith a greaterlikelihoodof To gain a bettersense of how Chinesecanbe com-
leaving the parentalhome, whereasthe arrivalof paredto people in othercultures,we contrastthe
the firstchild mightreversethis tendencybecause processof leavingthe parentalhome in the United
of the childcareservices providedby parents. States and Hong Kong in Table 1. Althoughthe
two societiesare similarlymodernizedandurban-
ized, the life coursedevelopmentsof theirpeople
AnalyticProcedures are quite different.Most young people stayed at
This study used a proportionalhazardsmodel to home with their parentsbefore the age of 20 in
analyze the hazardrate of leaving the parental both countries, but thereafter,Americans were
home. The hazardrate, h(t), is the instantaneous more readyto leave than Chinese.In 1970, only
probabilitythat an event such as leaving the pa- 37% of Americansin their early 20s and 9% in
rentalhome will occurbetweentime t and t + At, their late 20s stayed home, whereasthe Chinese
where At is made infinitivelysmall. As leaving figures were much higher at 69% and 50% re-
620 Journal of Marriage and Family

TABLE 1. PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS LIVING WITH

genderdifferencesin Hong Kong. By their early
PARENTS, BY AGE AND SEX
30s, most men and women had finished school
United andmarried,butthe gap remainedsubstantial.Be-
Hong Kong States tween 1975 and 1990, 10% to 23% of women
Age lived with theirparents,whereas40% to 60% of
Groups 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1970 1984
men did so in the same period. This patternis
Total consistent with the Chinese traditionthat sons
18-19 95 94 95 100 77 80 should live with parentsto fulfill duties of filial
20-24 69 80 77 80 85 37 45
25-29 50 48 50 44 54 9 14 piety, and that daughtersmust leave home after
30-34 39 28 32 22 marriage.
Women
18-19 95 90 93 100 72 75 CohortTrends
20-24 55 70 67 68 78 31 37
25-29 31 24 31 28 38 7 11 Social changetakesplaceto the extentthatpeople
30-34 23 14 17 10 fail to replicatethe experience of those before
Men them (Ryder, 1965). To track the course of
18-19 94 100 97 100 83 85 change,we performedcohortanalysison the de-
20-24 84 93 92 93 92 44 53 fromthe parentalhome by birthyears;the
73 76 75 65 73 12 17
parture
25-29
resultsappearin Table2. Analysisof the full sam-
30-34 60 46 52 40
ple shows that more people chose to live with
Note: The Hong Kong data are from our study, Social their parentsin their mid-20s. The percentageof
Change and Economic Life: A Sociological Study, 1994-
1996, and the United States figures are adaptedfrom Glick young adultsstayinghome at the age of 25 varied
and Lin (1986). between59%to 63%amongcohortsbornin 1960
and before and rose substantiallyto 71% in the
youngest cohort born after 1960. By the time
spectively.Clearly,Chineseweremorelikely than these people reachedthe age of 35, adultsof the
Americansto live with theirparents,andthis was youngerbirthcohortswereconsistentlymorelike-
primarilyattributableto cultural factors rather ly to leave homethanthosebornbeforethem.The
thaneconomicdevelopmentor urbanization. Both percentageof respondentswho were living with
societies, however,experienceda slight increase theirparentsdeclinedsteadilyfrom 29%of those
of young people stayinglongerwith theirparents. born before 1951 to 17%of those born between
For example,the percentageof Americansliving 1956 and 1960.
at home in theirearly 20s rose from 37%to 45% Furtheranalysis,however,shows thatthese ag-
between 1970 and 1984, and the Chinese also gregate trends conceal importantgender differ-
moved up from 69% to 80% in the same period. ences. More women of the youngerbirthcohorts
We agreewith Glick andLin (1986) in attributing were inclined to stay with their parentsin their
this upwardshift to the extensionof the schooling 20s, presumablybecauseof expandededucational
periodand the delay of marriage. opportunitiesand late marriage.At the age of 25,
Table 1 furtherreveals importantgender dif- the percentageof women who were living with
ferences in the home-leavingprocess.Men were their parentsstayed between 42% and 45% for
morelikely thanwomento live with theirparents, cohortsborn in 1960 and before but rose drasti-
presumablybecausethey studiedfor longerperi- cally to 62% for the cohortbornafter 1960. Sim-
ods and marriedat older ages, but the gendergap ilarly,the percentageat the age of 30 was stable,
was muchgreaterin Hong Kong thanin the Unit- between 19% and 21%, for the three older co-
ed States. For instance,duringthe mid-1980s in horts,butthe figurefor the youngestcohortquick-
Hong Kong, 68% of women versus93% of men ly jumped to 30%. These figures suggest that
lived withtheirparentsin theirearly20s, and28% womenwho were bornafter 1960 appearedto be
of women versus 65% of men lived with their the focal pointof changewith regardto the timing
parentsin their late 20s. The contrastwas much of leavingthe parentalhome. This changein res-
smallerin the UnitedStates,with 37%of women idential history might have been caused by the
versus 53% of men living at home in their early expansion of educational opportunitiesin the
20s, and 11%of womenversus17%of menliving 1970s,whichmostlybenefitedyoungwomenwho
at home in their late 20s. The longer schooling were born after 1960 (Post, 1994). In contrast,
periodand late marriagedo not explainall of the men exhibiteda tendencyto leave home earlier.
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong 621

TABLE 2. PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS LIVING WITH PARENTS, BY BIRTH COHORT AND SEX

MaritalStatus
Age
Before At
Birth Cohorts 15 20 25 30 35 Marriage Marriage
Total
1950 and before 100 89 63 39 29 83 42
1951-55 100 89 60 35 21 83 49
1956-60 99 92 59 35 17 82 36
1961 and after 100 93 71 39 70 31
Women
1950 and before 100 87 44 19 13 88 28
1951-55 100 84 45 21 12 82 33
1956-60 100 91 42 19 8 85 25
1961 and after 100 93 62 30 81 30
Men
1950 and before 100 91 85 63 49 77 59
1951-55 100 96 81 54 33 83 71
1956-60 99 94 83 58 30 77 53
1961 and after 100 93 81 50 56 31
Note: Data come from our study, Social Change and Economic Life: A Sociological Study, 1994-1996. Before marriage
and at marriage refer to 6 months before the first marriageand the first month after marriage,respectively.

At the age of 25 the percentageof men who were
living with theirparentswas quitestable,between
81% and 85%, among all cohorts, but the per-
centage droppedsubstantially5 years later,from
63% of the oldest cohortto 50% of the youngest
cohort, with a minor irregularityin between. At
the age of 35, both male and female adultsof the
youngerbirthcohortswere consistentlyless likely
to live with their parentsthan those of the older
cohorts.Despitethis downwardtrend,one should
note that in all birthcohortsmen were still more
likely to live with theirparentsthanwere women,
which suggests a clear gender divide in family
duties.
MaritalTransitionsand Leavingthe
ParentalHome
With the rising awarenessof personaldevelop-
mentandthe weakeningof traditionalfamilismin
highly capitalisticHong Kong,morepeopleof the
youngerbirthcohortspreferto establishtheirown
home at some point. Among respondentsof the
1956-60 birthcohort,only 17%(or 8%of women
and 30% of men) lived with their parentsat the
age of 35. We furtherlook into the questionof
whetherleaving home has become an indepen-
dent, normativelife stage in Chinese society by
analyzingresidentialpatternsaccordingto respon-
dents' maritalstatusin Table2. For the threeco-
hortsbornin 1960 andbefore,82%to 83%of the
respondentslived at home with their parents6
monthsbeforemarriage.In the firstmonthof mar-
riage, these percentagesdeclinedsharplyto range
between36%and49%.The youngestbirthcohort
experiencedgreaterchanges,with70%living with
theirparentsbeforemarriageand 31%continuing
to do so aftermarriage.These figuressuggestthat
leaving the parentalhome before marriageis far
from being a normativeevent in the growingup
process.
Consistentwith traditionalnorms,mostwomen
were underclose parentalsupervisionbeforemar-
riage.Beforemarriage,a high percentageof wom-
en, between81%and 88%fromall cohorts,lived
with their parents.After these women married,
only 28% of the oldest cohort and 30% of the
youngest cohort stayed with their parents.The
sharpcontrastbetween these two sets of figures
suggeststhatit was commonfor women to leave
the parentalhome at the time of their marriage
andthatthis move was a partof the marriagetran-
sition ratherthanan independentlife event. Men,
on the otherhand,were more likely thanwomen
to leave the parentalhome before marriage.For
the cohortsbornin 1960 andbefore,between77%
and 83% of men lived with their parentsbefore
marriageand the percentagedroppedto 56% for
the cohort born after 1960. Consistentwith the
traditionalprescription,men were more likely
than women to stay with their parentsaftermar-
riage. The percentageran from 53% to 71% for
the threeolder cohortsand droppedconsiderably
622 Journal of Marriage and Family

to 31% for the youngest cohort; despite fluctua- TABLE 3. RISK RATIO OF LEAVING THE PARENTAL HOME

tions in these percentages, all of the figures were Predictors Total Women Men
consistently higher for men than for women.
Birth cohorta
1951-55 1.21 0.98 2.65**
A Hazard Rate Model of Leaving the 1956-60 1.31 1.25 2.31*
Parental Home 1961-65 1.15 1.05 2.89*
1966 and after 1.28 1.15 3.30*
Table 3 presents the risk ratio of leaving the pa- Period effect
rental home from the proportional hazards model.
Housing/wage index 0.16** 0.31 0.09
The birth cohort and period effects were included
in the model to analyze the overall trends that had Housing typeb
Public rental housing 0.25*** 0.29*** 0.21***
taken place in the past few decades. The model Private rental housing 1.27 1.16 1.76*
also considered urban housing, parental status,
Parentalstatus
household structure,and life course developments,
Father's socioeconomic
which jointly determined the decision to leave the status 1.00 1.00 0.99
parental home. Analysis of these variables will One surviving parentc 0.89 0.95 0.85
help us to understand the dynamics of the home Parentsaged 60+d 1.11 1.36 0.89
leaving process and to assess the extent to which Sibling status
Hong Kong Chinese deviated from the traditional First childe 1.10 1.13 1.14
family norms of residential arrangement. Last childe 0.92 0.85 0.82
Only childe 0.42* 0.40 0.53
Number of siblings 1.06* 1.07* 1.05
Cohort effects. The data suggest that leaving home
Household composition
steadily gained popularity among men born more
recently. For example, men born after 1965 were Live with grandparents' 0.06*** 0.08* 0.04***
3.3 times more likely to move out of the parental Live with relativesg 1.95** 2.06** 1.29
Live with nonrelativesh 2.88*** 1.92** 9.28***
home than those born before 1951, the baseline
for cohort comparisons. This result may conceal Activity status'
In school 0.61 0.51 0.67
the opposing trends, which appear in Tables 1 and
Not employed 1.28 1.45 0.51
2, that more young men stayed at home recently
in their early 20s, but that a greater number from Achievement level
each succeeding birth cohort eventually left home High-school graduate' 0.91 0.80 1.16
College graduatej 1.05 0.62 0.72
after their mid-20s, particularly when they got
Occupationalstatus 1.00 1.00 1.00
married. The positive cohort effect suggests that Pay raisek 1.31* 1.39* 1.21
the latter trend prevailed over the extended period
Family stage
of staying at home. The case for women was dif- 47.63*** 72.80*** 21.17***
Premarriageperiod'
ferent. Although more women of the younger After marriage' 5.36*** 7.16*** 3.74***
birth cohorts left home in their mid-30s, they ac- Prechildbirthperiodn" 1.35 1.38 1.13
After birthof 1st child" 0.45*** 0.45*** 0.40***
tually exhibited a high rate of staying with their
parents throughout their 20s. With these trends N 643 353 290
1107 811 369
offsetting each other, no significant birth cohort X2
27 27
df 27
effects were found in the female sample.
Note: Data are from our study, Social Change and Eco-
Urban housing. As living away from parents re- nomic Life: A Sociological Study, 1994-1996.
i1950 and before is the reference category. bPrivately
quires financial resources, the rates of leaving owned housing is the referencecategory.cBothparentssur-
home should vary with periodic fluctuations in viving is the referencecategory. dAtleast one parentyoun-
rental housing prices. Indeed, we found that less ger than 60 years old is the referencecategory. eThoseborn
affordable rental housing suppressed the desire to in the middle is the contrast category. fNot living with
move out in the full sample. Scarcity in housing grandparentsis the referencecategory. gNot living with rel-
atives is the reference category. hNot living with nonrela-
supply has long been a dominant factor in Hong tives is the reference category. 'Workingis the reference
Kong family life, and this is reflected in the effects category. jNot completing high school is the referencecat-
of the housing sectors. The results indicated that egory. kNo pay raise is the referencecategory. 'Six months
before first marriage is the reference category. mEight
respondents who resided in public rental housing months before first birth is the reference category.
were less likely to move out of their parents'
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
home. Their risk of moving out was cut to one
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong
fourthof those living in privatelyownedproperty
in the full sampleand this relationshipcontinued
to hold in the femaleandmale subsamples.As we
suggested earlier,public housing creates greater
incentivesfor young adultsto stay at home, be-
cause they may inherittheirparents'rightto low-
cost housing.Living in privaterentalhousing,by
contrast,sped up the process of leaving home.
This is especially true for the male sample, for
whom living in privatehousing inflatedthe risk
of moving away by 76%when comparedto those
residing in privately owned housing. Living in
family-ownedhousingmight have enticedyoung
adults to stay with their parentsby offeringfree
accommodation.
Parental status. The analysis of parentalstatus
showed that althoughhousing resourceshelped
parentsto keep their childrenat home, parental
power,as measuredby the father'ssocioeconomic
status,had no effect on departures.We expected
that having one survivingparent,or elderly par-
ents, would make it harderfor young adults,par-
ticularlysons, to leave home because of the tra-
ditionalprescriptionsof filial piety. This was not
the case-the male sampleconsistentlyshoweda
lower risk of leaving home in these conditions,
but the effects were not strongenoughto be sta-
tisticallysignificant.It would have been tempting
to concludethat Chinese familismno longerhas
a place in modem Hong Kong, but additional
analysisof sibling structuresuggesteda different
interpretation.
Householdstructure.The findings pertainingto
household structurerevealed that sibling order
was not a relevantfactorin leaving home, as the
oldest son and the youngestson were not signifi-
cantly differentfrom those who were bornin the
middle. Contraryto the traditionalnormthat the
oldest son shouldbear a greaterfamily responsi-
bility than other siblings, he was no less likely
thanthose siblingsto leave homein contemporary
Hong Kong. Rather,it was the distributionof re-
sponsibilityamongsiblingsin takingcare of par-
ents that mattered.Being the only child in the
family lowered the risk of leaving home to 42%
of those who had siblings and were bor in the
middlein the full sample.Furthermore, the effect
of sibling size suggestedthateach additionalsib-
ling raisedthe risk by 6% in the full sampleand
7% in the female sample.
Householdcompositionis vital to understand-
ing the patternof leaving home. We believe that
623
living with grandparents has importantsocializa-
tion effects that pass on the values of traditional
familism to young adults. Indeed, this was the
case, becauseliving with grandparents drastically
reducedthe risk of leaving home to 6% of those
not residingwith grandparents in the full sample,
to 8%in the femalesample,andto 4%in the male
sample. In contrast,householdsthat were com-
prised of nonfamily members tended to push
young adultsaway.The risk of leavinghome was
almostdoublein the full samplewhen living with
relativesandroughlytriplewhen living with non-
relatives.Similareffects appearedin the subsam-
ples, buttheirimpactsvariedbetweenwomenand
men. Contraryto the traditionalnotionthatfamily
occasionallyincludesa wider kinshipand quasi-
kinshipgroup(Lau, 1982), youngadultspreferred
a more intimatefamily space thatwas comprised
of immediatefamily members.Withthe presence
of nonfamilymembersat home, the modem val-
ues of privacyand personalspace pushedyoung
adultsto leave home earlier.
Life course development.Leaving the parental
homeis a decisionthatis contingenton life course
developmentin terms of activity engagements,
achievementlevels, and family stages. We clas-
sifiedactivityin termsof full-timeschooling,non-
work,andwork,with the expectationthatthe first
two states would lower the risk of leaving home
when comparedwith the third,becauseof the fi-
nancialimplications.It turnedout, however,that
none of the coefficientswas statisticallysignifi-
cant, althoughthree out of four were in the ex-
pected direction.This situationcontrastssharply
with the Westernexperience,in which financial
independenceis directlylinkedto leavingthe pa-
rentalhome. The resultsin Tables1 and2 further
suggestthatHong KongChinesestayedwiththeir
parentsfor a long periodafterthey finishedschool
and becameactivelyengagedin the labormarket.
We also foundno effects fromeducationalattain-
ment and occupationalstatus. It seems that per-
sonal achievementswere unrelatedto the desire
to move out of the parentalhome. The only ex-
ception was receiving pay raises, which inflated
the risk by 31%in the full sample,with a slightly
strongerimpacton women thanon men.
Althoughactivitystatusand achievementlev-
els had little to do with leavingthe parentalhome,
Hong Kong Chinesewere very responsiveto the
family formationprocess in this regard.During
the premarriageperiod,from 6 monthsbefore to
the time of marriage,the risk of moving out was
624
48 times greaterthan duringthe time spent not
activelypreparingfor marriagein the full sample.
A genderdifferencewas evident,with women at
a much higher risk than men (73 times vs. 21
times) when they were aboutto marry.This sug-
gests a directrelationship,especiallyamongwom-
en, betweenmarriageand leaving home. Married
respondentshad a 5 times greaterpropensityto
leave home thanthose who were not considering
marriage.As marriedwomen were not supposed
to live with theirparents,they had a muchhigher
risk of movingout thandid marriedmen;the risk
ratios were 7 times for marriedwomen and ap-
proximately4 times for marriedmen. Expecting
childbirth,which covered the 8-monthperiodof
the first pregnancy,was not a relevantfactor in
the decision to move out, but the risk of leaving
home changedafterthe firstchild was born.Rath-
er than encouragingthe search for more family
space,the arrivalof the firstchildactuallyreduced
the risk of leaving home to 45% of those who
were not expectinga child in the full sampleand
its impactwas aboutthe same for the femaleand
male subsamples.Apparently,parentalchildcare
services were highly valuedand offeredpractical
incentivesfor not moving out of their childhood
home.
DISCUSSION
Conventionalwisdomholds thateconomicdevel-
opmentandmodernizationlureyoungpeopleinto
leaving home earlier to ensure greaterpersonal
freedomand privacy.We began this researchby
asking whether leaving the parentalhome has
gained popularityamong Chinesein Hong Kong
andwhetherliving awayfromparentshas become
a uniquestage in the growingup process. Com-
parativeanalysis revealedthat Hong Kong Chi-
nese were far more likely thanAmericansto live
with their parents despite both societies being
highlymodernizedandurbanized.Consistentwith
Chinesetradition,more men than women stayed
at home, even when genderdifferencesin school-
ing and marriagetimingwere takeninto account.
This evidencesuggeststhatleavinghome is more
than a simple functionof modernizationas pro-
pelled by economicdevelopment.Rather,cultural
elements also play a criticalrole in how people
interpretthe event of leavinghome and how they
act accordingly.Althoughmorepeopleeventually
move out of the parentalhome, modernization ac-
tuallyleadsto a higherproportionof youngwom-
Journal of Marriage and Family
en staying at home in their 20s, probablyattrib-
utableto prolongedschoolingand late marriage.
Leavingthe parentalhome is far frombecom-
ing an independent,normativelife stage in Chi-
nese society. Most female respondentsstayed at
home before and left immediatelyaftermarriage.
This patternchangedvery little over time, which
suggests that leaving the parentalhome is a part
of the marriagetransitionratherthanan indepen-
dent step toward adulthood.Slightly more men
than women left home before marriagebut the
proportionwho stayedwith theirparentswas still
high, which meansthatleavinghome beforemar-
riage is uncommonin Hong Kong. Consistent
with Chinesetradition,men weremorelikely than
women to live with their parentsafter marriage.
Clearly,Hong Kong Chinese continueto follow
traditionalgender divisions in relationto family
obligationsdespiterapidsocial and economicde-
velopment.
Althoughit seems thatmodernizationdoes not
always act unfavorablyon traditionalpractices,
the rationalethat now supportsChinesefamilism
may be quite differentfrom that of the past. Our
hazardrateanalysesaskedwhy Chinesefamilism
survived,the extent to which it had been modi-
fied, and how it had adaptedto the urbanenvi-
ronment.We foundthattraditionpassesfromone
generationto the next, as living withgrandparents
helps to socialize young adultsinto remainingin
the parentalhome. Personalachievementwas rel-
atively unimportantamong the respondents,as
they were not very responsiveto educationallev-
el, employmentstatus,or socioeconomicstanding
whenconsideringa move awayfromtheirparents.
However,pay rises werethe exceptionto thisrule.
Traditionalfamily obligations remainedgender
specific, as many women waited until they mar-
ried to move out.
However, there were signs of change. More
young men of the recent birth cohortsleft their
parentsand theirresidentialpatternmovedcloser
to that of women, that is, they left the parental
homeaftermarriage.Bothmen andwomenshared
a narrowerdefinitionof familythanthe traditional
notionthatcovereda widerkinshipnetwork.Liv-
ing with nonfamilymembers,relativesor nonrel-
atives, tendedto push young adultsaway.Having
dependentparentsdid not stop youngrespondents
from leaving home, and being the oldest son in
the family had no bearingon the odds of living
with parents.More and more decisions to move
out were basedon practicalreasons.The viability
of aged care for parents,for example,was deci-
Leaving Home in Urban Hong Kong
sive in residentialarrangements.Being the only
child in the family lowered the risk of leaving
home, but a largernumberof siblings increased
thatrisk.
Leavingthe parentalhome was also a decision
deeply embeddedin the urbancontext.We have
demonstrated thatthe decisionto move out is sen-
sitive to periodicfluctuationsin the affordability
of housing. Indeed, housing was a resourcethat
was used to keep childrenat home. Althoughso-
cioeconomicstandingdid not enhanceparentalin-
fluence,parentswith public housingentitlements
offeredgreaterincentivesfor childrento stay be-
hind when comparedto those living in private
housing.This was largelyattributable to the state
policy that allows childrento inheritthe rightto
public housing.Besides housing,childcareis an-
other key concern in urbanlife, as both parents
are likely to be employed.Ratherthanlookingfor
more family space, the respondentspreferredto
live with theirparentsafterthe birthof theirfirst
child. Apparently,parentalchildcareservices are
highly valuedin urbanHong Kong.
Ourassessmentof the Chineseway of leaving
the parentalhome is that changehas been taking
place graduallybut the extent and pace of that
change has not matchedHong Kong's rapidde-
velopmentover the last few decades. Moreover,
the level of change is uneven between men and
women. Leaving the parentalhome has not yet
become an independentstage in the growing-up
process and it continuesto be closely associated
with marriage,which is a key transitionin the
family career.In addition,the decision to move
out is increasinglydominatedby practicalconsid-
erationswithinthe urbancontext.
NOTE
This projectwas fundedby the ResearchGrantsCoun-
cil, Hong Kong,the BritishAcademy,UnitedKingdom,
and the Departmentof Sociology,The ChineseUniver-
sity of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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