On the Frontier of Adulthood

Theory, Research, and Public Policy

Richard A. Settersten Jr., Frank F. Furstenberg, Rubén G. Rumbaut, Richard A. Settersten Jr., Frank F. Furstenberg, Rubén G. Rumbaut

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780226748900, 9780226748894
• eBook ISBN: 9780226748924
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Social Sciences

On the Frontier of Adulthood reveals a startling new fact: adulthood no longer begins when adolescence ends. A lengthy period before adulthood, often spanning the twenties and even extending into the thirties, is now devoted to further education, job exploration, experimentation in romantic relationships, and personal development. Pathways into and through adulthood have become much less linear and predictable, and these changes carry tremendous social and cultural significance, especially as institutions and policies aimed at supporting young adults have not kept pace with these changes.

This volume considers the nature and consequences of changes in early adulthood by drawing upon a wide variety of historical and contemporary data from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Especially dramatic shifts have occurred in the conventional markers of adulthood—leaving home, finishing school, getting a job, getting married, and having children—and in how these experiences are configured as a set. These accounts reveal how the process of becoming an adult has changed over the past century, the challenges faced by young people today, and what societies can do to smooth the transition to adulthood.
 
"This book is the most thorough, wide-reaching, and insightful analysis of the new life stage of early adulthood."—Andrew Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University
 
"From West to East, young people today enter adulthood in widely diverse ways that affect their life chances. This book provides a rich portrait of this journey-an essential font of knowledge for all who care about the younger generation."—Glen H. Elder Jr., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
 
"On the Frontier of Adulthood adds considerably to our knowledge about the transition from adolescence to adulthood. . . . It will indeed be the definitive resource for researchers for years to come. Anyone working in the area—whether in demography, sociology, economics, or developmental psychology—will wish to make use of what is gathered here."—John Modell, Brown University
 
"This is a must-read for scholars and policymakers who are concerned with the future of today's youth and will become a touchpoint for an emerging field of inquiry focused on adult transitions."—Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Columbia University

 
 


 

Table of contents

• Contents
• About the Editors and Contributors
• MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy
• Acknowledgments
• 1 On the frontier of adulthood
• 2 The transition to adulthood during the twentieth century
• 3 American women’s transition to adulthood in comparative perspective
• 4 Historical roots of family diversity
• 5 Historical trends in patterns of time use among young adults in developed countries
• 6 Generation gaps in attitudes and values from the 1970s to the 1990s
• 7 Subjective age identity and the transition to adulthood
• 8 Sequences of early adult transitions
• 9 Off to a good start?
• 10 Six paths to adulthood
• 11 Is it getting harder to get ahead?
• 12 Material assistance from families during the transition to adulthood
• 13 Early adult transitions and their relation to well-being and substance use
• 14 The ever-winding path
• 15 The transition to adulthood for youth leaving public systems
• 16 Social policy and the transition to adulthood
• Index