The 'empty Nest' in Times of Change: An International Comparative Perspective on Family Recompositions and Adult Children and Parents’ Relationships

Compared to other stages of the family life cycle, the period of the “empty nest” has been less analyzed by sociologists (DeVries 2004; Bouchard 2013). The departure of adult children is a process that mirrors the contemporary transformation in family structure and relations as well as broader social and economic changes (Settersten, Gannon, 2005; Arnett, 2000). On the one hand, due to the increase of life expectancy, the empty nest stage has significantly lengthened and the time the couple spends without children has increased. On the other hand, the difficult housing/financial situation forces many young people to stay with their parents longer or to return to the family home (Du Bois-Reymond, López Blasco 2003; Heinz 2009; Hörschelmann 2011; Borlagdan 2015; Gaviria 2020; Abetz, Romo, 2021; Żadkowska, Herzberg-Kurasz 2022). Also, the moment when young adults start their own family is prolonged (Benson, Furstenberg 2006; Van de Velde 2008, Settersten 2011; Giraud 2020).

To our Regular session we invite empirical papers on the subjects such as:

• Contemporary changes regarding the family life cycle
• New practices of love and intimacy of couples in the postparental stage
• Existing and new models of parenting
• Life projects in the empty nest stage
• Social differences and inequalities reflected in different motivations, trajectories and outcomes of the transition to empty nest
• Factors that impact the pace and outcomes of children departure
• Financial arrangements and obligations in intergenerational relation
• Reconfiguration strategies in new family arrangements
• The influence of COVID 19 on parents – young adults’ relations, intimacy, and proximity.