Conjugal courses and pathways to adulthood are changing in Europe, characterized by an increasing heterogeneity among young adults. The decline of marriage in favour of unmarried unions and registered partnerships, uncertainty on the labour market or an increase in union dissolutions have led to this heterogeneity of pathways. Living in a co-resident couple is now associated with higher risks of breaking up than before. Yet, the outcome of a union dissolution on residential trajectories remains poorly documented, especially in the demographically dense period of transition to adulthood. For at least one partner, this dissolution leads to a move and for both partners, to a new household composition. Young adults may choose or be constrained to relocate in a particular household structure after this break-up.

Using the Belgian National Register, this article provides a gendered analysis of young adults born between 1978 and 1982 who are forming and ending a union before age 30. Every year, the Register records the conjugal and residential situation of legally residing inhabitants in Belgium. By applying a multinomial logistic regression to this discrete-time data, we estimate competing risks of ending a first cohabiting couple to choose specific living arrangements: returning to the parental home, living alone, repartnering or living in another shared dwelling. Results show that men are more likely to return in the parental home after a dissolution or in shared dwelling. Women are more likely to repartner the year after the break-up. The most common path is to live alone, with higher odds for individuals residing in the capital, without high school diploma and previously in an unmarried relationship.