Becoming adults in Britain: lifestyles and wellbeing in times of social change

Abstract

This study examines variations in the combination of social roles in early adulthood and their association with mental health, subjective wellbeing, and alcohol use in two nationally representative British birth cohorts, born in 1970 (n=9,897) and 1958 (n=9,171

The Long Shadow of Youth: Girls’ Transition From Full-Time Education and Later-Life Subjective Well-Being in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

“…Our results support the idea raised by Xue et al (2020) that it is important for young women to establish strong ties to employment early-on as they leave school, as those who do not are more likely to suffer longer-term financial disadvantage. Our results are also in line with previous studies which characterised young people's work and family roles in combination and found that early transitions into parenthood are associated with poor educational attainment and a reduced likelihood of being in full-time employment in early adulthood as well as low life satisfaction and high distress in the early 30s (Schoon et al 2012). Similarly, other studies have investigated work and family dimensions simultaneously across the life course and found that women who made earlier transitions to parenthood and spent long periods of the life course out of employment to look after the home and family had poor health at later life (Lacey et al, 2017;Lacey, Stafford, Sacker, & McMunn, 2016).…”

“…In terms of transitions to adulthood, previous research has found that early transitions to FT domestic work after exiting education set young women onto trajectories of weak ties to paid work over the life course, and were associated with lower socioeconomic attainment in later life (Xue et al, 2020). Studies have assessed the concurrent or short-term influences of combined work and family experiences post-FT education and their results generally support that the active engagement in and commitment to meaningful social roles in young adulthood predict higher levels of subjective well-being in late 20s or early 30s (Maggs, Jager, Patrick, & Schulenberg, 2012;Sacker & Cable, 2010;Schoon, Chen, Kneale, & Jager, 2012). However, the life course impact of transition from FT education has not been examined.…”

Adolescents’ changing future expectations predict the timing of adult role transitions.

“…For example, Osgood and colleagues (2005) reported six pathways to adulthood among youth from the Midwest: fast starters who transitioned in education, work, partnering, and parenting relatively early compared to their peers, slow starters who struggled to make any transitions, working singles who transitioned early in education and work domains but delayed marriage and parenting, educated singles who delayed entry into work and family roles in favor of higher education, educated couples who partnered early but delayed other transitions in favor of education, and parents without careers. These patterns are similar to those described in a British cohort (Schoon, Chen, Kneale, & Jager, 2012). When fewer transitions are assessed, the patterns differ somewhat, but heterogeneity is still the norm (Braboy Jackson & Berkowitz, 2005; Maggs et al, 2012; Oesterle et al, 2012).…”

Girls’ transition to adulthood and their later life socioeconomic attainment: Findings from the English longitudinal study of ageing

“…These transition events accumulate and partially overlap, and each transition may demarcate a turning point for later life course. Studies focused on a complex set of transitions, including education, employment, housing, marital status, and parenthood, have argued that young adults who achieve multiple transitions to adulthood have better wellbeing in their mid-20s or early-30s than those who have yet to achieve them (Maggs et al, 2012;Räikkönen, Kokko, Chen, & Pulkkinen, 2012;Sacker & Cable, 2018;Salmela-Aro, Taanila, Ek, & Chen, 2012;Schoon et al, 2012). However, it is worth noting that there is considerable heterogeneity in youth experiences, with a variety of transition combinations linked with high levels of life satisfaction and well-being.…”

“…While studies applying a more holistic approach to capture the nature or sequence of several life course events mainly assessed the concurrent or short-term influences of life course transitions of young people (e.g. Maggs, Jager, Patrick, & Schulenberg, 2012;Sacker & Cable, 2018;Schoon, Chen, Kneale, & Jager, 2012), there remains a lack of understanding of the life course ramifications of the distinct pathways young people take when making the transition from FT education.…”