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Although our analysis is limited to the initial departure from the home, our findings also provide a clue to explaining the recent trend in young adults’ living arrangements. Once unfavorable demographic situations and the slow transition to marriage are controlled for, nest-leaving intensities in the 1960s cohort are slightly higher than among preceding cohorts. This result suggests that young adults in the 1960s cohorts are actually more frequently opting for leaving the parental home than their predecessors. In fact, young adults in recent cohorts are interested in living apart from their parents. According to Kitamura (2001), about 80% of men and women who were single and lived with their parents at ages 20-39 in 2001 responded that they currently wanted to, or had at some point wanted to, leave the parental home. Those who said they want to leave home now or some point in the future (60% of men and 50% of women) were subsequently asked the reasons why they want to leave home in multiple choices. The main reasons include “it doesn’t feel right to be dependent on my parents for so long” (67.4% of “want to leave” men and 59.9% of “want to leave” women), “interested in living alone” (38.0% of “want to leave” men and 48.6% of “want to leave” women) and “want to live freely” (41.1% of “want to leave” men and 44.4% of “want to leave” women). Therefore, more than half of single young adults intend to leave the parental home for the reasons relating to social independence.

Furthermore, young men are under the strong social pressures to leave home in Japan. The Fiscal Year 2001 National Survey on Lifestyle Preferences shows that elder people, in particular men, are less favorable to the life style of young adults who live with parents and are dependent on their parents in their daily lives (Cabinet Office 2002). Also among unmarried young adults who live with parents, men tend to show much lower levels of life satisfaction than women in the same situation do (Cabinet Office 2002). Taking these results together, my analysis therefore suggests that, behind the seemingly unchanged living arrangements of young adults, two competing effects might be occurring: one takes the form of demographic trends that encourage young adults to stay at home, and the other is an increase in a preference for residential autonomy among young adults.

The high level of coresidence between young adults and their parents has important implications for family behaviors as well. Value transformations to individualism or non-traditional familism might be hampered by the fact that a majority of young adults live with the parents in Japan. The trends towards individualism and non-traditional family values are highly relevant factors in explaining the prevalence of premarital leaving home and the diversity of living arrangements both in the US and Western European countries (Jong Gierveld et al. 1991, Goldscheider and Goldscheider 1999, Lesthaeghe and Moors 2000). In fact, previous studies further reveal reciprocal relationships between values and living arrangements of young adults. The experience of living with non-family members affected the values and attitudes of family life of women by reinforcing career orientation, reducing the desired number of children, eroding the attitude towards intergenerational coresidence, and causing a decline in gender traditional family values (Waite, Witsberger, and Goldscheider 1986, Axinn and Barber 1997, Goldscheider and Lawton 1998, Moors 2000). These reciprocal relationships between living arrangements and the changes in values among young adults can be seen as a driving force of the SDT in Western countries. Therefore, the slow progress in the diversification of living arrangements among young adults in Japan and Southern European countries might be due to the tradition of parents-adult child coresidence, which protects young adults against the tides of individualization and secularization.

Finally, what was not analyzed in this article or taken as a given situation are institutional settings, such as high housing costs in Japan. A survey shows that financial reasons are a major obstacle for Japanese young adults wishing to leave the parental home (Kitamura 2001). Setting up a new household is actually very expensive in Japan. For example, housing costs in Japan are very high, especially in or near large cities. Establishing a household also involves considerable costs for durable items such as electrical appliances, furniture, and other items because furnished apartments are rarely available. Furthermore, the security deposit, the traditional monetary gift for the landlord and the housing agent fee can together exceed six months' rent. A portion of this money is non-refundable and must be paid in advance. As room sharing is not common and not favored in Japan, young adults would have to cover all the cost by themselves or with support from their parents. If they work for a company with full benefits or serve as a public servant, sometimes housing subsidies or inexpensive dormitories/apartments will be supplied by the employers. However, the terms and conditions of these subsidies vary significantly across companies since these subsidies are provided as a part of the private welfare to the employees. In general, becoming independent would involve considerable expenses and a significant drop in living standards in a given housing situation in Japan. Since marriage is strongly associated with the economic independence of young adults, especially for men, it seems young

couples are finally achieving residential autonomy at the time of marriage. In sum, living with parents may be a rational strategy for young adults wishing to save money for marriage when leaving home is not necessary. As leaving home at marriage is becoming more common among recent cohorts, marriage situations may be becoming more similar to those of Southern European countries, where young couples need a house for their newly married life.