Previous chapters have sought to elucidate the pathways approach through a disaggregated analysis of the different elements that constitute pathways and the meaning these particular factors have for households. Chapters Seven and Eight further explore the pathways approach by focusing on particular parts or stages in a household's pathway in a more holistic way. This chapter considers the early stages of a pathway by focusing on young people leaving home and their early experiences as a household. Chapter Eight covers the pathways of households in later life. Of course, these are only illustrations of the full extent of pathways and by no means cover all the different stages of any pathway.

The chapter aims to show the dynamic nature of pathways over time and some of the processes involved such as leaving home or becoming homeless. It attempts to show how some of the factors considered in previous chapters interact in the early stages of a housing pathway. Also, the chapter reviews existing applications of a pathways approach and uses this analysis to suggest ways in which research on housing pathways could be fruitfully taken forward.

The chapter begins with a discussion of the discourses that surround the process of leaving home. These discourses include those of ‘the family’ and ‘labour flexibility’, which have been discussed fully elsewhere in the book, as well as discourses of ‘youth’. It is argued that these discourses frame the actions of individuals and are embedded in social norms and public policies. The following section examines the process of leaving home, looking at the different factors that trigger the process and the stages that young people move through. Some of the living arrangements or destinations of young people when they leave home, such as shared living, are described. The general theme of the section is the diversity of experience among young people in all aspects of the process and particularly in the ability to sustain independent living. In a few cases the problems are such that young people may become homeless, and this is the focus of the rest of the chapter. The first part of this section looks at the discourses of homelessness that are embedded in public policy.