Leaving Home in Finland: A Comparison by Migration Origin and Neighbourhood Context

Abstract

<p><span>This paper examines how immigrant origin and neighbourhood environment intersect to shape the timing and pathways of</span><span> leaving the parental home in Finland, a comparatively new migration destination. Using large‐scale longitudinal Finnish register</span><span> data for the 1990–1995 birth cohorts (</span><span>N</span><span> </span><span>= 369,629), we analyse the dynamics of leaving home among majority and immigrant‐</span><span> origin young adults. Our study demonstrates, for the first time, that the socio‐spatial environment shapes leaving‐home behaviour</span><span> among different immigrant‐origin groups in Finland, providing a more nuanced understanding of this emplaced process. We</span><span> employ discrete‐time competing‐risks event history models to analyse three transitions out of the parental home: independence,</span><span> cohabitation and marriage. The results reveal that as the proportion of majority Finns in their neighbourhood increases, young</span><br><span>adults with an immigrant background increasingly resemble their majority peers in their leaving‐home behaviour, except for those</span><span> from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the Balkans and former Yugoslavia. Furthermore, we find no evidence of</span><span> a differential effect of the neighbourhood environment on men's and women's leaving‐home pathways</span><br></p>