Age at Leaving Home in Rural Ireland, 1901–1911

Economic historians have stressed the importance of households and household formation but have devoted little attention to the process of leaving home. Leaving home in Ireland is important because of households' role in post-Famine demographic patterns. A matched Irish manuscript census sample for 1901 and 1911 shows that Irish males left home later than females. Statistical tests show that much of this reflects an Irish inheritance system that led many males never to leave home. Other economic forces, such as labor market opportunities, often had opposite impacts on males and females.