The roles of family resources and family structure in moving from the parental home and village among young Indonesians

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of family resources and family structure among young Indonesians on the likelihood of leaving the parental home and village in general and for three types of reasons: work, education, and marriage. Using all five waves of the Indonesia Family Life Survey, we find that the effects of family resources and structure differ by reason for moving. For example, parental education is positively related to moving for education, but not to moving for work or marriage. We also find that being the oldest child is positively related to moving in general and belonging to an extended family is negatively related to moving for work. Our results suggest that moving from the parental village for work, education, and marriage are different processes. Furthermore, while some of the findings are in line with previous findings for leaving home in Western countries, other findings are typical of developing countries.