Young people are going about life in ways different from their parents: that is well understood. But do the rites de passage, the transition markers that formerly signalled adulthood, remain important? Data from a recent Institute study of young adults are presented in this article to cast light on some of those transitions and their relationship to the processes of leaving and returning home. The Young Adults' Aspirations Survey, conducted by the Institute in late 1998, is a national survey of 580 young adults aged 20-29 years, recruited using the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) facility. The analysis shows that the paths to adult status, as measured by marriage, mortgage and parenthood, are anything but clear and singular, but remain desirable.